Free Republic

How Obama’s Arab Spring Created the Islamic StatePosted By Raymond Ibrahim On October 6, 2014 @ 12:20 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments Over a decade ago, the U.S. conquered Iraq; its military and intelligence were on the ground for years with autonomy.   In other words, U.S. influence and authority was more pronounced in Iraq than probably any other Muslim country in the world.And yet it is in this one Muslim nation, where the U.S. had most authority, where U.S. blood and treasure were spent, that the absolute worst Islamic terrorist group—the Islamic State—was born.Coincidence?Or is this too related...

MURSITPINAR (Reuters) - Islamic State has raised its flag on a building on the eastern side of Kobani where IS fighters have been battling Kurdish forces for control of the Syrian border town, according to Reuters television images and a Turkish military officer. A black flag apparently belonging to the group was visible atop a four storey building close to the scene of some of the most intense clashes in recent days, television images shot from neighbouring Turkey showed. A Turkish military officer who did not give his name said that the flag was that of Islamic State, which has...

The Iraqi army continues its fight against ISIL militants in the north and west of the country, achieving great victories. In the province of Salahuddin, the joint operations of Iraqi forces, Sunni tribes and Shia volunteers helped liberate the town of Dhuluiyah after fierce clashes lasting for days.

(CNN) -- Three Americans are fighting alongside Kurdish forces against the Islamic State terror group in northern Syria, a spokesman for the Kurdish group told CNN on Thursday. One of the Americans was identified by the Kurdish People's Protection Units, also known as the YPG, as Jordan Matson of Wisconsin. Matson is fighting in Haska province near the town of Jazaa, close to the Iraqi border, YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said by telephone.

Peshmerga officers during training in Germany News / Kurdistan Photo: Peshmerga Officers Start Training in Germany 29.09.2014 Shorish Muhemed BasNews, Germany BasNews can exclusively publish pictures of Peshmerga trainees in Germany. For security reasons, we have obscured their faces. On Sunday September 28th 2014, the training of 32 Peshmerga officers commenced in Germany and will continue for one week. German military experts will train the 32 Peshmerges in the use of various types of anti-tank weapons. On returning to Kurdistan the newly trained soldiers will pass their knowledge on to their Peshmerga colleagues through specially designed courses. The training...

An Army intelligence bulletin is warning U.S. military personnel to be vigilant after Islamic State militants called on supporters to scour social media for addresses of their family members – and to “show up [at their homes] and slaughter them."

Ms. Malika Bilal and Ms. Femi Oke Al Jazeera English PO Box 23127 Doha – Qatar Dear Ms. Bilal and Ms. Femi Oke: This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar, the country which owns Al Jazeera, the network on which you are co-hosts of the program, The Stream. We urge to you read the information below, which includes evidence that Qatar is arguably the preeminent sponsor of terror in the world today. It is a benefactor of the...

QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan,— A US citizen, Jordan Matson, has joined the Kurdish People's Defence Units (YPG) ranks in Syrian Kurdistan in order to fight against Islamic State IS jihadi militants, receiving the code-name “Serdar”. Matson was slightly injured when a mortar shell landed near him in a clash in which 8 IS militants were killed. Matson says he is very content with the attention he receives in the YPG. A US citizen from Wisconsin has joined the YPG ranks, which already includes many people from different ethnic groups in Syria and the Middle East in general. Matson says he had...

Audio podcast 39:46 Monday 29 September 2014 / Hour 1, Block A: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, in re: US killed 2 'Arabs' in first drone strike in South Waziristan in more than a year The US has not launched a drone strike in South Waziristan since mid-April 2013. US drone strike kills 2 AQAP fighters in Al Jawf The strike, the second in two days, took place in a northern province where top al Qaeda leaders have been targeted and killed in the past. Al Qaeda official warns against...

An investigation was underway Tuesday after Iraqi military pilots mistakenly gave food, water and ammunition to enemy ISIS militants instead of their own soldiers, a senior security official and a brigadier told NBC News. The supplies were supposed to help besieged Iraqi army officers and soldiers who had been fighting Islamist extremists for one week in Saglawyah and the village of Al-Sijar in the country’s western province of Anbar.

The Pentagon says that it has demolished the majority of the oil refineries the Islamic State has been using to fund its terrorist activities and now is systematically destroying the Syria-based stockpiles that support the terrorist network’s fighters in Iraq. Over the past several days, the U.S. military and its Arab nation partners have pummeled eastern Syria with missiles, razing 16 of about 20 Islamic State-controlled oil refineries, a senior Pentagon official said. Now, the multinational operation will focus on hindering the extremist group’s ability to conduct combat in Iraq.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Rabia on Tuesday morning News / Kurdistan Peshmerga Forces Free Rabia and Head Towards Sinjar 30.09.2014 BasNews, Erbil   Early Tuesday morning, Kurdish Peshmerga forces attacked Islamic State (IS) militants in Rabia and Zumar in Northern Iraq and were able to take control of Rabia, a strategically vital town on the Iraq - Syria border.   According to Peshmerga in the area, Kurdish forces have begun an operation to re-take the areas surrounding Sinjar. They plan to open a route that will facilitate the liberation of the majority-Yazidi town in northern Iraq.   BasNews has...

To the American Public: In light of the wars and violent turbulence that currently engulf the Middle East and parts of Africa, a coalition of concerned citizens, journalists, and activists are launching a campaign to expose a most infamous and pernicious sponsor of Islamic terror: the Gulf state of Qatar. Qatar, (pronounced “cutter,” or "gutter"), is, per capita, the richest country in the world ($93,352 in 2013). This is partly due to the fact that they control the third largest natural gas reserves in the world, the North Dome field in the Persian Gulf. It is also because Qatar has...

Did the referees cross the line? Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah came up with a big play during Monday night's win over the New England Patriots, as he intercepted a Tom Brady pass and took it to the house for a touchdown. However, once he reached the end zone, Abdullah dropped to his knees and did this ["pray"]: Abdullah is a practicing Muslim and it's common for people of that faith to pray from their knees. However, this drew a flag from the officials for excessive celebration. But should it have? FOX Sports NFL rules expert Mike Pereira pointed...

ISIS fighters now 'at the gates of Baghdad': Islamic militants fighting 'just one mile from Iraqi capital' despite days Western airstrikes ***** The fighting is taking place just one mile to the west of the city, with government forces desperately trying to hold off the militants, who allegedly killed up to 1,000 soldiers during clashes yesterday. ISIS have held a number of towns and villages close to the Iraqi capital since earlier in the year, when government troops melted away following a lightning advance in the west of the country - enabling the terrorist group to seize further swaths of...

It’s been 48 hours since Jah’Keem Yisrael — AKA Alton Noel — perpetrated a horrific terrorist attack on 54 year old co-worker Colleen Hufford, stabbing her repeatedly and then sawing her head off with a knife, and we have yet to hear any acknowledgment from President Obama of this worrisome incident. Why not? All the elements of an Islamic act of terror are present: the savagery,the shouting of Islamic verses during the act, the stated determination to carry out jihad, and a fanatical belief in Islam that, in his mind, justified everything. From a political standpoint, it’s a bad idea...

Colleen Hufford of Moore Oklahoma may be missing her head, but the real victims are Muslims, or so we are being asked to believe. In fact, according to the Imam of the Islamic Institute of Boston, Islam suffers a “double hurt.” And here I thought Ms. Hufford had it bad. The imam should know, after all, it was his Institute’s “resident scholar” who was reportedly the former imam of the Oklahoma mosque attended by Alton Alexander Nolen, aka Jah’Keem Yisrael, who wielded the knife separating Ms. H’s head from her body. And the leadership of that Oklahoma mosque agree that...

The U.S.-led coalition hit Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets around a Syrian town on the Turkish border Sept. 27 where tens of thousands have fled a jihadist assault, a monitoring group said. The reported strikes around the mainly Kurdish town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane in Kurdish, came as the U.S.-led coalition widened its air war against ISIL targets in Syria as part of "near continuous" raids against the jihadists. It was the second time that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had reported U.S.-led air strikes around the town since the launch of the...

September 27, 2014 US Airstrikes Pound Islamic State Targets by VOA News A Syrian watchdog group says airstrikes, likely carried out by U.S.-led forces, hit Islamic State targets Saturday in Syria. The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights says coalition warplanes struck Aleppo province near al-Etihad University; an Islamic State headquarters.   The Observatory says "31 massive explosions" were heard in the province of Raqqa, an Islamic State stronghold, and casualties were reported. The monitoring group reported warplanes also struck areas east of the desert town of Palmyra in Homs province Saturday. American fighter jets, drones and other aircraft also pounded...

Khorasan is al-Qaeda, and al-Qaeda is Khorasan. To date, nothing has been established to suggest a distinguishing difference in ideology between the two separately named entities. Instead, experts suggest that Khorasan should be viewed as an elite unit, largely consisting of members from al-Qaeda's "core" group, who are predominantly focused on plotting attacks against the West.