Tag: Iraq (page 8)

At an Interpol conference this week, outgoing Chief Ron Noble said European ISIS recruits are facing stepped up airport and bus station checks in Turkey, making it harder to get to Syria. Their solution: Book a cruise to Turkey, and exit at a port close to the Syrian border, like the coastal town of Izmet, and from there make their way into Syria.

Interpol is calling for the expansion of its I-Checkit program in the private sector. It already gets airline passenger information. Now it is is hoping to get passenger and customer information from cruise operators, banks, hotels and others. [More...]

President Obama has authorized 1,500 additional military personnel to go to Iraq and advise and train the Iraqi forces and Peshmerga in the fight against ISIS. He will ask Congress to approve for $5.6 billion in overseas contingency funds and $1.6 million to train Iraqi and Pershmerga forces.

Two groups will be going. The first will "advise and assist" Iraqi forces at the brigade level from command operations centers near Baghdad and Erbil. The second will do the military training. 9 Iraqi army and 3 Peshmerga brigades will be trained in northern, western and southern Iraq. Many of the new personnel will be deployed to the Anbar province.

Here is the Pentagon's statement. It confirms the personnel will act in a "non-combat role." It is an expansion of our "advise and assist mission" and the beginning of the training initiative. It doesn't mention Syria.

In the New York Times, Peter Theo Curtis, aka Theo Padnos, provides a detailed and fascinating account of his 2 years as an Al Nusra hostage in Syria. He is now home in Vermont, having been released in August, days after the James Foley execution, when Qatar finalized negotiations with al Nusra for his release, reportedly after Qatar paid a big ransom (which Qatar denies.) al Nusra is every bit as brutal as ISIS, and their only differences, according to Padnos, are over which one will control Syria's oil fields.

Padnos' account of his abuse and captivity is very compelling reading. So are his timeline and description of the Free Syrian Army "moderate rebels" and al Nusra's second in command, Abu Mariya (or Maria) al Qahtani, which is what I focus on below: [More...]

ISIS hostage John Cantlie was let of out of ISIS jail to take a road trip to Kobane to make a new video. He also got to shed his orange jumpsuit and wear a nice black shirt.

You can view the video at Daily Motion here. Cantlie is quite animated as he shows off Kobane in the background and explains why the U.S. and its coalition won't succeed in controlling Kobane.

His hair is longer, and while his face appears haggard, his mood is quite upbeat and his delivery is very enthusiastic. He's either gotten quite adept at using a teleprompter, or he's a naturally gifted speaker who doesn't need one. If we didn't know he was a hostage, he could easily be taken for a network news reporter.

What would account for his enthusiasm? Perhaps ISIS rewarded him for his video work with a get out jail free card, rather than just a day pass. I hope so.

The New York Times has a new article on the torture that preceded the beheadings of the journalists ISIS held captive. I'm going to read it as soon as Homeland is over. Here's a place to discuss it and all ISIS related news.

Update: There is also a new episode of hostage John Cantlie's video series, Lend Me Your Ears. You can watch it here.

“Some of us who tried to escape were waterboarded by our captors, as Muslim prisoners are waterboarded by their American captors.”

A new U.N. report on the death penalty in Iraq says it is fueling the violence and a moratorium should be imposed.

The report says executions in Iraq have been increasing at an alarming pace and that is applied unfairly:

Judges often pass death sentences based on evidence from disputed confessions or secret informants, condemning suspects who are unaware of their rights, may have been tortured and have no defense attorney until they arrive in court, the report said.

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Former pilots for Saddam's air force are reportedly teaching ISIS to fly. Among the aircraft: MI-G fighter planes they got from Syria in battle. The fighter jets have been spotted over Aleppo in Syria.

Islamic State (Isis) is takings its first steps towards building an air force by training pilots to fly captured fighter planes, according to a group monitoring the conflict in Syria.

Isis is using lots of tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery and Jeeps taken from the Syrian and Iraqi armies but this is the first report that it has planes in the air.

The U.S. today announced the name for the war against ISIS. It's called "Operation Resolve."

The operation name applies retroactively to all U.S. military actions conducted against ISIL in Iraq and Syria since airstrikes against ISIL began Aug. 8 in Iraq, officials said.

The name Inherent Resolve is intended to reflect the unwavering resolve and deep commitment of the U.S. and partner nations in the region and around the globe to eliminate the terrorist group ISIL and the threat they pose to Iraq, the region and the wider international community, Centcom officials explained.

100 U.S. military advisors arrived in Anbar today to train Iraqi forces and tribe members.

ISIS has released a new video of three foreign fighters challenging the U.S. to send ground troops, titled "Wait, We Also Are Waiting." SITE has the transcript and a description. Or, you can watch it here.

ISIS is making gains around Baghdad. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno today said he is "somewhat confident" the Iraqi Army can resist.

The army withdrew from Hit in the Anbar province following an attack on a military training camp.

Here's a photo by ISIS of its fighters being prepped for battle in the Diyala province.

Reuters says 180,000 have fled Iraq.

ISIS hostage John Cantlie has a new video message (Episode 3 of "Lend Me Your Ears") available on You Tube here. It's much the same message as prior videos. More interesting is a new written statement by Cantlie addressing media claims that his video messages are scripted or written by ISIS.

Cantlie's new written statement is contained in the final pages of the just released Issue 4 of ISIS's Dabiq Magazine, available here in English. [More...]

Turkey has the second biggest army in Nato. If it wanted to take out ISIS, it could, without any help from anyone else.

Turkey has not sent ground troops to Syria to fight ISIS, and probably won't enter Syria, unless ISIS attacks its special monument.

The U.S. (hopefully) will continue to reject the the use of ground force against ISIS in Syria.

The end result, according to news headlines, is that it would be a travesty if Kobane falls to ISIS. Perhaps to Turkey, where the Kurds and Turks might return to fighting each other. But not to us. And if it would be a travesty for Turkey and the Kurds, why aren't Turkey and other countries in the region offering ground troops to prevent it?

Abu Wahib, as I've written before, is the most recognizable, telegenic and frightening looking ISIS fighter. He is the military commander for the Anbar province in Iraq. He has falsely been declared dead several times, including within the past year.

Yesterday, there were reports by pro-Kurdish tweeters saying he had been killed in Kobane. Others said he was killed in Ramadi.

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