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Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Thursday called on Middle Eastern leaders to stand up to "violent extremism" and stop proxy wars that fuel the rise of terror groups. "The notion that the West is at war with Islam is an ugly lie," he told the final day of a conference on combatting extremism. "And all of us, regardless of our faith, have a responsibility to reject it." Obama challenged Middle Eastern powers to stop actions that he claimed have stoked the rise of Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and others. Fighting between Sunnis and Shia "will only end when...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the fight against violent extremism, President Barack Obama argues the U.S. has one thing going for it that Europe doesn't: a long tradition of warmly embracing its immigrants, including Muslims. With the Islamic State group spreading and terrorists gaining strength in the Mideast and Africa, Obama has sought to use this week's White House summit on violent extremism to urge the world to broaden its response far beyond military interventions. U.S. airstrikes have managed to blunt some of the militants' gains in Iraq and Syria, but they don't address the extreme ideologies that underpin deadly groups...

Fun stuff via BuzzFeed, portending an exciting “whose close relative is more of a devastating electoral liability?” primary for the GOP if the two men left standing are Jeb Bush and Rand Paul. I don’t understand this even within the parameters of the Ron Paul worldview. I thought hardcore isolationists — sorry, “non-interventionists” — believe that the war machine will always find a new pretext to keep rolling even if the current one goes bust. Obama, for instance, did eventually get Bin Laden, along with many other Al Qaeda capos … and yet at this very moment there’s an AUMF...

On Monday's Morning Joe on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough suggested that having a literal interpretation of the Bible could lead Christians to violence in a similar manner as radical Islam. Oddly enough, Scarborough hoped to avoid being "torn to shreds online" by equating the two, but made the comparison anyway. The morning's panel centered on the violence of ISIS and its undeniable ties to the tenets of Islam, but Scarborough felt compelled to find a link between Islam and Christianity. He said: “A very crude way to put it is, this would be the ultra fundamentalist Christians who believe every single...

Right now, the Administration has a budding PR problem with their Middle East policy, so it makes sense that the man himself would take to the media to attempt to explain what they’re thinking with this strategy. What doesn’t make sense is that the finished product would clash so fundamentally with what the American people actually need to hear. From Obama's op-ed.. "More broadly, groups like al Qaeda and ISIL exploit the anger that festers when people feel that injustice and corruption leave them with no chance of improving their lives. The world has to offer today’s youth something better....

Hundreds of militants have been killed during the struggle to recapture the Nigerian garrison town of Monguno, according to officials. "Over 300 terrorists were killed while a few were also captured," said defence spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade. The claims follow similar statements from Niger, Chad and Cameroon - who are also involved in fighting the terror group - but they have not been independently confirmed. The army has often claimed success against the group which has then been contradicted by witness reports. Civilian vigilantes in the town confirmed it had been retaken and said there had been heavy casualties, but...

Poor Marie Harf. The State Department’s deputy spokesman is being mercilessly mocked for an interview she gave to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews in which she said, of the conflict with the Islamic State: “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 a lack of opportunity for jobs, whether—”

A German rapper-turned ISIS extremist who starred in the group's grisly beheading videos was being spied on for the FBI by a woman he thought was his wife. Denis Cuspert, 39, who now calls himself Abu Talha al-Amani, embraced radical Islam and travelled to Syria to fight with militants before becoming the group's main propagandist. The spy transmitted critical information about the rapper and his ISIS colleagues before escaping to Turkey - where she was arrested and then turned over to the US, according to the German newspaper Bild. The paper said German and American intelligence sources confirmed the existence...

Thirty-five Egyptian workers were rounded up by terrorists after the Egyptian airstrikes. The Libya Herald reported: There are reports that at least 35 Egyptians have been kidnapped in what appears to be a round-up at various locations in areas controlled by Ansar Al-Sharia and IS. The Libya Herald has been told that starting this morning, in the wake of the attack on Derna by warplanes from Egypt, Egyptian nationals, many of them it seems farm workers, have been picked up by gunmen. The first reports were that seven men had been seized, but by mid-afternoon, it was being said that...

What the West really needs to take on the Islamic State is ... a jobs program. That's what a top State Department spokeswoman suggested when asked in a TV interview Monday night about what the U.S.-led coalition is doing to stop the slaughter of civilians by Islamic State militants across the region. "We're killing a lot of them, and we're going to keep killing more of them. ... But we cannot win this war by killing them," department spokeswoman Marie Harf said on MSNBC's "Hardball." "We need ... to go after the root causes that leads people to join these...

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…

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...

RANCHO MIRAGE, California (AP) — A White House summit this week on countering violent extremism will not focus exclusively on threats from the Islamic State group, senior administration officials said Monday. While the militant group, which has killed several Americans and others it had been holding hostage, poses a near-term threat to the United States, one of three officials previewing the summit for reporters on Monday said violent extremists "come in all shapes and sizes." The three-day conference will highlight both domestic and international efforts to prevent extremists and their supporters from radicalizing, recruiting and inspiring others, particularly disaffected young...

The 21 men beheaded on a Mediterranean beach in a video released by Islamist savages Sunday were killed because of their Coptic Christian faith, by men who proclaimed the reason for the murders before the whole world. And the White House won’t say the word. Christian beheading victims are marched to the beach in Libya to be murdered by Islamist militants on Sunday. (Daily Mail photo) “The United States condemns the despicable and cowardly murder of 21 Egyptian citizens in Libya by ISIL-affiliated terrorists,” a statement issued by the White House said.“ISIL’s barbarity knows no bounds.  It is unconstrained by...

Recently we reported on retired Lt. Gen. and former DIA Chief Mike Flynn’s devastating criticism of the terms of President Obama’s Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against ISIS. Another prominent retired member of America’s armed forces who has emerged as an outspoken opponent of the Obama administration’s foreign policy is four-star admiral James “Ace” Lyons. During the Center for Security Policy’s recent Defeat Jihad Summit, the naval officer of 36 years, who served most recently as the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, made some simply astounding comments about Islam and President Obama’s foreign policy strategy:

On February 18, President Obama will host a “Summit on Countering Violent Extremism” which, the White House promises, will “highlight domestic and international efforts to prevent violent extremists and their supporters from radicalizing, recruiting, or inspiring individuals or groups in the United States and abroad to commit acts of violence.” A coordinated strategy has never been more imperative. Since the Arab Spring turned hot, “violent extremism” has only grown more severe, with the Islamic State now controlling an area larger than Great Britain; Boko Haram on the rampage in Nigeria; Yemen, Libya, the Sinai, and large parts of Afghanistan and...

Anbar Province Could ‘Collapse Within Hours,’ Says Iraqi Tribal Leader ‘We’re Losing Ground, Not Gaining’ By Kellan Howell - February 14, 2015 An Iraqi tribal leader said Saturday that Islamic State militants are quickly gaining ground in Anabar province and predicted Iraqi army forced could “collapse within hours” if tribal forces withdraw. Sheikh Naim al-Gaoud, a Sunni Muslim leader of the Albu Nimr tribe, called for more U.S. intervention in the region, including ground troops and arming tribes directly, CNNreported Saturday.

Houston is no stranger to burning mosques. In fact, there have been numerous mosques deliberately set ablaze in parts of Texas and other states over the past several years. One can only wonder when conservatives or “right-wingers” will be blamed for this latest tragedy without the slightest “smidgen” of proof? What is interesting is that it is clear that at least some people do not accept the official explanation for the recent tragic murders of three Muslims by one Craig Stephens Hicks over what is said to have been an ongoing parking dispute. The guy is obviously a loon who...

There has been much discussion after Obama's contrived comparison of the Crusades and Christianity to Islam and ISIS at the National Prayer Breakfast last week. And then yesterday we have Obama asking for "war powers" to go after ISIS. It just occurred to me, that Obama ironically prophesied his next foreign policy disaster. Obama is launching the 21st century's "Obama Crusades." May God have mercy on America and our military forces.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Marines handed over their remaining weapons to Yemenis at the airport in the capital, Sanaa, on Wednesday before boarding commercial aircraft to leave the country following the closure of the U.S. embassy, the Pentagon said. The Pentagon said the Marines destroyed heavy weapons in their embassy arsenal, including machine guns, before leaving for the airport but remained armed with smaller weapons until the end to ensure a safe exit from the country. "The movement from the embassy to the aircraft required armed Marines," Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said at a briefing. The U.S....