CNN: Why ISIS Is Winning?

CNN recently asked “Why is ISIS winning?”

Earlier, Iraqi government troops and / or Kurdish fighters defeated ISIS at the border town of Kobane, near Turkey, and took control of the Baiji oil refinery, the largest oil refinery in Iraq. CNN was referring to the recent take-down of the Iraqi army at Ramadi. Still, does the CNN headline comes across as biased?

Earlier this year, The Fiscal Times reported that ISIS has been “defeated in every front in Iraq in unprecedented way – from Mosul to the north to Anbar to the west and Diyala to the east…” Iraqi government forces, Shiite militias, Sunni tribes and Kurdish forces were all victorious in battle, read the report.

In April, ISIS was beat back from the city of Tikrit. “ISIS just suffered its worst defeat yet – losing the Iraqi city of Tikrit,” reported Vox.

In March, The Washington Post stated: “Reports of rising tensions between foreign and local fighters, aggressive and increasingly unsuccessful attempts to recruit local citizens for the front lines, and a growing incidence of guerrilla attacks against Islamic State targets suggest the militants are struggling to sustain their carefully cultivated image as a fearsome fighting force…”

So, the question is: Who’s right? Is CNN being biased by stating that ISIS is winning? Or is ISIS being defeated, as other publications have stated?

Just as important – are some news outlets more likely to claim ISIS is “winning” than other media? Does politics come into play? For example, is Fox News more likely to report that ISIS is winning because it makes the President look bad? Just a thought…

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/isis-suffers-heaviest-defeat-iraq-101500786.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/28/middleeast/isis-how-to-stop-it/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/18/iraq-beji-refinery-isis-attack_n_7092080.html

Associated Press: Turkey And Saudi Arabia Helping ISIS, Al Qaeda

Secular Talk

Turkey and Saudi Arabia have come up with an aggressive new strategy to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad: they are aiding extremist rebel groups.

Associated Press:

“The two countries — one a democracy, the other a conservative kingdom — have for years been at odds over how to deal with Assad, their common enemy. But mutual frustration with what they consider American indecision has brought the two together in a strategic alliance that is driving recent rebel gains in northern Syria, and has helped strengthen a new coalition of anti-Assad insurgents, Turkish officials say.

“That is provoking concern in the United States, which does not want rebel groups, including the al-Qaida linked Nusra Front, uniting to topple Assad. The Obama administration worries that the revived rebel alliance could potentially put a more dangerous radical Islamist regime in Assad’s place, just as the U.S. is focused on bringing down the Islamic State group. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issues, said the administration is concerned that the new alliance is helping Nusra gain territory in Syria.”

Bashar al-Assad – the current leader of Syria – is an Alawite Muslim – related to Shia Muslims (also called Shi’ite Muslims). He is aligned with Iran, a Shia-oriented nation.

Al-Assad, however, is considered a moderate. However some nations that are U.S. allies look at Assad as an enemy for political reasons.

So, is the situation in The Middle East becoming more of a train wreck? Should the U.S. take a stand against its own allies?

Does Dick Cheney Regret The Iraq Invasion?

Secular Talk

In an upcoming book, Former Vice President Dick Cheney ignores Barack Obama’s significant increase of drone strikes and continued bombings of ISIS and accuses the president of allowing American power to become “diminished.”

Huffington Post:

“Cheney renews his criticism of Obama in ‘Exceptional: Why The World Needs a Powerful America,’ a book co-authored with his eldest daughter, Liz Cheney, due to be published on Sept. 1 by Threshold Editions, which has backed books by conservative authors. Threshold is part of publishing house Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS Corp.”

Video Shows Egyptian In Libya Becoming A Suicide Bomber

A four-minute video shows a young man identified as Mosa’ab el Mohager in the back of a car, driving near the outskirts of Benghazi.

It ends with a shot of a distant explosion, which was supposedly the explosion of the young man carrying out a “martyrdom operation” in the name of the local Libyan branch of ISIS.

“We, unfortunately, are likely to see more and more of these tapes,” said Khaled Masouri, a 27-year-old Egyptian teacher who recently returned to Cairo from a year-long teaching project in Libya. “There are many Egyptians flocking to these jihadi groups.”

Thousands of Egyptians are estimated to be fighting with ISIS in Iraq and Syria, states BuzzFeed.

Egypt’s military has openly bombed ISIS targets in Libya.

However, Egyptian officials fear that thousands more Egyptioans could join the ISIS militants that it’s attacking, in a country that it shares a long, porous border with.

More here

Saudi Arabia Has Beheaded 57 People This Year Alone

Secular Talk

While we focus on the beheadings in the fight with ISIS in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has beheaded 57 criminals this year, according to Agence France-Presse. The most recent beheading was for the crime of drug smuggling.

Is there a double-standard in our dealings with the different countries of the Middle East? Does it have a relationship to oil and economics?

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/320976#.VSQIEfnF9AQ

Reagan-Era Conservative Buchanan Disagrees With Fox News’ Sean Hannity On Iran

Secular Talk

“Old-Time” conservative Pat Buchanan “gets it” about Iran and the fight against ISIS.

The fight in Iraq is the Sunni rebel ISIS against Iran-backed Shia Muslims.

Buchanan was a senior advisor to Nixon, Ford, and Reagan, according to Wikipedia.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity doesn’t seem to understand the situation on the ground in the Middle East. He apparently wants the United States to fight both sides in the battle of Sunni rebel ISIS vs. Iran-backed Shia. The U.S. has to pick a side – hopefully the lesser of two evils.

In World War II, you wouldn’t fight both the Nazis AND Britain. You pick a side. Hannity doesn’t seem to get it.

Has There Been Progress In Tikrit?

Is the U.S. winning in Tikrit?

Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi confirmed recently that the city of Tikrit (in Iraq) has been recaptured from Islamic State (ISIS) after a long battle.

Tikrit was considered Saddam Hussein’s hometown.

Haider al-Abadi went on live television to announce the liberation of Tikrit and congratulated the Iraqi security forces and popular volunteers “on the historic milestone,” according to the IB Times U.K.

According to the I.B. Times U.K., “an Iraqi commander said the Iraqi flag is flying on the Salaheddin provincial headquarters in the flashpoint city.”

Previously, Iraqi Shi’ite militias halted Tikrit operations following US air strikes on IS defenders.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, A’laa al-Idani, told IBTimes UK air strikes by the US and its coalition allies would help to destroy the network of tunnels where IS militants were holed up and allow the army and militias to fully take the city after over a week of fighting.

Iraqi forces launched an attack to push IS out of Tikrit on March 2nd, with a force of 30,000 Sunni and Shi’ite fighters. Taking back Tikrit could serve as a launchpad for a key battle to seize Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, back from the jihadists.

More here:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tikrit-liberated-iraqi-army-have-routed-isis-saddam-husseins-home-town-says-pm-abadi-1494411

Do Some Right-Wingers Want To Bomb Iran?

Majority Report

Iran is fighting against ISIS in the Middle East, and backing Shia militias to help in the fight against ISIS. Does this make Iran our ally?

That doesn’t matter to Louie Gohmert, who on Fox News said again that he would like to bomb Iran.

Are Sunni And Shia The Same?

Secular Talk

Are all Muslims the same? Does religion play a role in the Middle East?

Is ISIS and Iran on the same side, or are they fighting each other?

Is Bashar Assad on the same side as ISIS?

The turmoil in Yemen grew into a regional conflict Thursday, with Sunni Saudi Arabia and its allies bombing Shiite rebels allied with Iran, while Egyptian officials said a ground assault will follow the airstrikes.

Sean Penn Discusses Dick Cheney

What does actor Sean Penn have to say about former Vice President Dick Cheney? On March 18th, he discussed it with talk show host Conan O’Brien. They also discussed Cuba and ISIS.

Video by Team Coco