Glenn Beck Unaware That Shi’ite Iran Is Fighting Sunni ISIS

Secular Talk

Glenn Beck posted a message on Facebook about the Iran deal and warned of dire consequences, including “a Holocaust, perhaps bigger than the last.”  Beck is currently on medical paid medical leave from his radio show.

Beck wrote how people “mocked him” for warning about the “rise of the caliphate,” but now he’s more convinced that the U.S. has done a deal with a nation that believes in the “end times,” writes MediaITE.

Keep in mind that Sunni ISIS and Shia Muslim Iran are mortal enemies in the Middle East.  They are not on the same side of the war.  Beck:

“For years I have warned the world against turning a blind eye to those who run Iran. They are beyond radical Islamists. They, like ISIS are psychotic Islamists.

“When I predicted the rise of the caliphate, those who had not done their homework on what was really happening in the Middle East spent their time mocking me. Once again, I warn the American people and the people of the world again. This particular strain of Islamists, like ISIS, believe they can “hasten the return of the promised one”, and usher in the literal end times.

“No one in their right mind would sign treaties with a Christian country that believed these things. Remember, it does NOT require you to believe it, just that you fully understand that THEY believe it.

“What this president has done will be remembered as something far worse than Neville Chamberlain. It will only be a matter of time before millions cry out his name in despair and contempt. A Holocaust, perhaps bigger than the last, where millions of Christians and even Muslims who are not Muslim enough will die at the hands of the Islamic State.

“Anyone who believes ‪#‎lovewins‬ must let their voice be heard. This is a nation that denies homosexuality even exists in their country and they whip or kill any that they find. This is a country that is holding Americans in prison now for political or faith crimes. This is a nation that kills those who leave Islam and stone women.

“This is a sad day for the right of conscience and the freedom and safety of not only us but the entire world. It is a tragic day for our ally Israel.

“‪#‎neveragainisnow‬. It is time for good, decent and God fearing Americans stand and be counted. This deal yet again proves that our governments are not the solution to our problems. For me, my family and my team we will serve the truth and against injustice no matter the price. We will serve The Lord.

“This must not stand but you must.”

ISIS Attacks In Egypt?

Update: The Times of Israel now puts the number at “over 70” people dead. 

A wave of attacks on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt left at least 38 dead and dozens more injured this morning, writes Gawker.  The attacks were at Egyptian army checkpoints.

The New York Times puts the number of dead at 64 Egyptian troops.

According to the AP, the terrorist group ISIS has already claimed responsibility for the attacks on Facebook.

Also over the weekend, the Egyptian state prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed at point blank range with a roadside bomb tied to an ISIS group.  The name of the ISIS group is the Sinai Province, writes Gawker.

Yesterday, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi publicly promised to step up efforts against the group, apparently prompting a “swift response.”

The morning assault was reportedly launched by around 70 ISIS operatives, who used mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and car bombs in “near simultaneous assaults” on several army checkpoints.

According to the an Associated Press report:

“An Islamic State affiliate in Egypt claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attacks, saying its fighters targeted a total of 15 army and police positions and staged three suicide bombings, two of which targeted checkpoints and one that hit an officers’ club in the nearby city of el-Arish.

“The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified but it was posted on a Facebook page associated with the group.

“Except for the attack at the officers’ club, the rest took place in the town of Sheikh Zuweid and targeted at least six military checkpoints, the officials said. The militants also took soldiers captive and seized weapons and several armored vehicles, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.”

(Updated article)

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/07/01/world/middleeast/ap-ml-egypt.html?_r=0

British Teen Was Suicide Bomber In Iraq, Another British Person Killed In Kenya

A British teenager is among four suicide bombers alleged to be behind an attack in Iraq on Saturday that killed at least 11 people, illustrating the front-line role foreign fighters from the West are playing in the conflict in Iraq and Syria.

Saturday, the family of 17-year-old Talha Asmal, from Yorkshire in North England, said their son was one of four men that Islamic State supporters alleged were responsible, writes the Wall Street Journal.

In separate news, a senior Kenyan official told The Wall Street Journal on Monday that Kenyan authorities believe another British man, Thomas Evans, had died while fighting for the Somali militant group al-Shabaab.

Authorities are waiting for forensic confirmation that Mr. Evans was among 11 militants and two Kenyan soldiers killed in an al-Shabaab raid on an army base close to the country’s northern border with Somalia, the official said.

(Updated article)

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/15/dewsbury-in-utter-shock-at-over-talha-asmals-death-in-iraq-suicide-bombing

http://www.wsj.com/articles/british-teenager-among-four-suicide-bombers-in-iraq-1434382079

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

Hot Air: ‘Good news: ISIS ‘showing a good degree of tactical awareness”

Is anyone familiar with the website Hot Air?  The website is apparently right-wing, and is stocked with right-wing bloggers as well as Fox News contributors.  The “About” page states it was founded by Michelle Malkin, also a Fox News host.  Malkin also founded the right-wing website “Twitchy.”

Hot Air recently wrote an article titled “Good news: ISIS ‘showing a good degree of tactical awareness,” which seemingly implies that they think it is good news that ISIS has tactical awareness.  Are they on the side of ISIS?  Whose side are they on?

What does tactical mean?  Let’s double-check.

Tactical – of, relating to, or constituting actions carefully planned to gain a specific military end.  “As a tactical officer in the field he had no equal.”  Also:  (of bombing or weapons) done or for use in immediate support of military or naval operations.

This is a very strange title coming from a conservative U.S. magazine.  Imagine the outrage on the right if a left-leaning website had an article with the same title.

(Updated article)

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/05/27/good-news-isis-showing-a-good-degree-of-tactical-awareness/

Death Toll Discrepancy With Suicide Attacks Near Fallujah

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has reportedly carried out a series of suicide / car bomb attacks on military convoys northeast and southeast of the city of Fallujah, killing at least 55 people, according to Al Jazeera.

Brigadier General Saad Maan Ibrahim, the spokesman for the Joint Military Command, told The Associated Press that 17 troops were killed in the attacks.

Three blasts on Tuesday hit Iraqi army convoys travelling in Anbar province to take part in a planned offensive aimed at retaking the provincial town of Ramadi from ISIS, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said. He said that the attacks were a “very big blow” to the military.

ISIS has routinely used car bomb attacks to a “devastating effect” against Iraqi forces, he added.

“Car bombs have proven to be a very big problem for the Iraqi security forces,” said Khan. The tactic reportedly played a major part in the capture of Ramadi.

The bombings come as Iraqi forces prepare for a massive bid to retake Ramadi, which is the capital of the Sunni Anbar province.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/suicide-blasts-isil-iraq-fallujah-ramadi-150527080550499.html

Given Enough Time, Could ISIS Get A Nuclear Weapon?

Secular Talk

The Islamic State group claims its financial situation is flourishing to the point that it is in a position to obtain a nuclear bomb within the coming year, according to the latest issue of the extremist group’s online propaganda magazine Dabiq.

An article is purportedly authored by British ISIS captive John Cantlie, and it concedes that the scenario is a “far-fetched” one, but that the militant group could actually obtain a nuclear device through Pakistan, writes the International Business Times.

“Let me throw a hypothetical operation onto the table,” writes the ISIS hostage Cantlie.

“The Islamic State has billions of dollars in the bank, so they call on their wilayah in Pakistan to purchase a nuclear device through weapons dealers with links to corrupt officials in the region,” writes Cantlie, according to the British newspaper The Independent.

http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-nuclear-weapon-islamic-state-claims-it-can-buy-nukes-pakistan-within-year-dabiq-1936029

Nevada College Student Tells Jeb Bush ‘Your Brother Created ISIS’

Secular Talk

When people say George W. Bush “created ISIS,” they do not mean that he “created” them on a secret military base somewhere and brought them together – Alex Jones conspiracy style – in order wreak havoc.  Generally, people mean that Bush “created the conditions” that allowed ISIS to happen.

In a “collapsed” dystopian post-war society with few employment opportunities and many left-over weapons, radical Islam seemed to offer a “way out” for some.

Many joined the group, and were able to gain power and influence in the chaotic situation of post-Saddam Iraq.

Recently, college student Ivy Ziedrich confronted Jeb Bush at a town hall event in Reno, Nevada, about the Iraq war, writes the British newspaper The Guardian.  Ziedrich is a 19-year-old student at the University of Nevada, according to The Guardian.

She questioned Bush amid a group of reporters about his belief that the jihadist group developed because Barack Obama had overseen the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

“You stated that ISIS was created because we don’t have enough presence and we’ve been pulling out of the Middle East,” Ziedrich said, shifting blame instead on to the consequences of George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq. “The threat of ISIS was created by the Iraqi coalition authority, which ousted the entire government of Iraq.

“It was when 30,000 individuals who are part of the Iraqi military – they were forced out. They had no employment, they had no income, yet they were left with access to all the same arms and weapons. Your brother created ISIS!”

(Updated article)

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.”