ISIS: The Exponential Growth of a Pandemic Threat! - by Olivier J. Melnick - http://www.newantisemitism.com/2014/10/isis-exponential-growth-of-pandemic.html
By now, there are not that many places in the world where the acronym ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) remain unknown. ISIS also known as IS (Islamic State) has acquired quite a ruthless, bloody reputation in just a few months. When it was first announced that they were a splinter group from Al-Qaeda, we witnessed an almost "tongue-in-cheek" yet blasé reaction from most people. Little did we all know about the rapes, crucifixions and beheading that were about to take place. Now we know and yet, very little is being done to nip ISIS in the bud. The bold Caliphate declaration by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on June 29, 2014 ( the first day of Ramadan) was a surprise to most, but it remained unchallenged. It is a long shot to expect the rebirth and growth of an Islamic caliphate, but we must remember that even if the Third Reich was short lived, it decimated millions in its destructive path.
To be sure, Islamo-fascism wasn't born yesterday. It has plagued much of the Middle East for decades and has even spread beyond on many occasions. Much of modern terrorism has been Islamo-fascist terrorism. By this I do not mean that all Muslims are terrorists, absolutely not! Yet, if we were to tally up the terrorism of the last fifty years, almost every terrorist WAS a Muslim.
But is ISIS a terrorist group or is it even much more than that? While it is clear that their actions totally fall in line with terrorism, we must also understand that as a declared caliphate-albeit not officially accepted-they are not acting as a terrorist organization within a state or country. ISIS is not like Hamas, Hezbollah, Boko Haram or even Al-Qaeda. By their own admission, they are a state and because of that, they qualify for a response proportionate to their barbaric, brutal attack on Western civilization. They qualify for a full-blown retaliation. No sanctions, not boycott, no talks... RETALIATION! Let me clarify what I mean, I mean war! ISIS IS ACTING AS A TERRORIST STATE and not a terrorist organization! An all out war against ISIS on the ground might be the best use of resources and the only way to put an end to this slaughter.
ISIS is very impressive and attractive to a myriad of radical Islam aficionados (Muslims or not). ISIS has managed to attract followers from various corners of the planet with their supremacist ideology "hell bent" on beheading the infidels. We shouldn't underestimate the danger posed by this new group's ability to attract previously uninterested people to Islam. They have an uncanny ability to draw people to their evil ideology that is what makes them a real but very unpredictable danger.
Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and many other terrorist groups always had a following, but because of their lack of organization, lack of funding and lack of "proper" exposure, they always were partially successful at best. ISIS has mastered all three. They are organized. As a matter of fact they have a structure that is more akin to a government with a military wing than that of a terrorist group.
They have a pretty steady cash flow that now comes from some of the oil fields they have seized recently. Some statistics say that they might be generating between $1M and $4M daily. No matter how we look at it, they generate much more than any of the other terrorist organizations including Al-Qaeda.
As for their exposure, they get it from videos and brochures distributed as if they were running an advertising campaign, and in a sense they are! They also have an extremely strong presence on the social networks.
ISIS has been planting cells all around the world and continues to do so. Additionally, in countries like the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK, they have been recruiting on the streets through a process known as Da'wah meaning "invitation". People are invited to inquire about Islam and even convert through dialogues on street corners. As a result, almost every country in Europe has seen people join Islamic training in Syria and/or Iraq.
ISIS has declared jihad against the whole world. But how did they get so far, so fast? It can be argued that the vacuum created by the removal of dictatorial leaders in the Middle East is what made room for groups like ISIS. The Saddam Hussein, Qaddafi and Mubarak of the region might have been ruthless dictators within their own restrictive police states, but they also managed to keep a lid on Islamic extremism. Now ISIS is quickly filling the void.
ISIS' exponential growth continues both territorially and demographically. They are not only expanding their borders in the Middle East, but they are also establishing their following globally. From their standpoint of a global caliphate, they are successfully establishing a network while the world is watching like a deer in headlights.
While ISIS poses a threat to all, including Israel, they currently are focusing on "purging" Islam of all the Shi'ite Muslims who stand in the way of their establishing their hegemonic caliphate. This, of course, doesn't mean that Israel is currently unaffected by ISIS, but simply that they, as a target, might be on the back burner. There is no doubt in my mind that if ISIS gets too close to Israel and puts the Jewish state at risk, Mr. Netanyahu will respond swiftly and appropriately.
So, as the Ebola virus continues to spread in Africa and is even starting to affect other continents, the ISIS virus appears to also be spreading in and beyond the Middle East. From isolated to epidemic to pandemic, the ISIS virus could do a lot more damage before it is contained, but it will never be contained with band aids or compresses. Major surgery is needed and fast.
It is time for civilized people to unite against the Islamic State. It is also time for the more liberal among us to realize that ISIS is the new Nazis of the Middle East, not Israel!
In the meantime, all of us who believe in the power of prayer know what to do. We must:
* Pray for the United States to quickly and powerfully go after ISIS and incapacitate them
* Pray for the safety of those within the destructive path of ISIS
* Pray for ISIS members to be released from the bondage of Islamism
The Lord is far from the wicked but He hears the prayers of the righteous (Proverbs 15:29)
March of Prophecy: US Airstrikes helping Islamic State - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
The occupant of the Oval Office's airstrikes in Syria and Iraq on the political surface are aimed at destroying the Islamic State, but in reality may be accelerating its development across the region. From Psalm 83 to Isaiah to Ezekiel to Daniel to Joel to Revelation and many other prophetic writings, the traditional enemies of Israel gather to wage war and take a spoil against Jerusalem. Nearly every Middle East foreign policy effort of the US "president" has strengthened and advanced the agenda of a worldwide Islamic caliphate. Islam is a true antichrist theocracy, as described in 2 John 7, "...who confess not that Jesus Christ (Messiah) is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist."
In a September 24 editorial, the New York Times criticized the "president's" airstrikes as a "bad decision," warning of "unforeseen consequences in a violent and volatile region." The UK Independent is far more blunt in an October 12 article: "The US-led air attacks launched against Islamic State (also known as Isis) on 8 August in Iraq and 23 September in Syria have not worked...In both Syria and Iraq, Isis is expanding its control rather than contracting." The article says Islamic State fighters are inspired: "Part of the strength of the fundamentalist movement is a sense that there is something inevitable and divinely inspired about its victories, whether it is against superior numbers in Mosul or US airpower at Kobani."
The article points out the complex support of Turkey for the Islamic State, while claiming to be an ally of the US: "Turkey is demanding a high price from the US for its co-operation in attacking Isis, such as a Turkish-controlled buffer zone inside Syria where Syrian refugees are to live and anti-Assad rebels are to be trained. Mr Erdogan would like a no-fly zone which will also be directed against the government in Damascus since Isis has no air force. If implemented the plan would mean Turkey, backed by the US, would enter the Syrian civil war on the side of the rebels, though the anti-Assad forces are dominated by Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate."
While the secular media appears to have no clue about, or belief in, end time prophecy, it is describing the conditions precedent to a rising union of the traditional enemies of Israel as prophesied throughout the Bible. Turkey is key, as Gog of Magog, the Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal will lead Persia (modern Iran), Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, Togarmah against the mountains of Israel in a colossal end time battle. Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and Togarmah are located in modern Turkey. Currently, Turkey is supporting the Islamic Caliphate while telling America she is an ally. The US "president," while appearing to Americans as fighting the Caliphate, is actually strengthening it. America is currently on the wrong side of prophecy, and even the New York Times believes there will be consequences.
Obama's 'Strategy': Linking Israel and Iran - By Barry Shaw - http://www.americanthinker.com
In fifty days of Gaza conflict, Israel launched 5500 precision air strikes against terror targets. In 70+ days the U.S. launched less than 400 strikes in Iraq and Syria against ISIS. Why?
It's not lack of planes and firepower. It's a lack of political will, despite all the rhetoric of having to degrade and defeat the Islamic State's rampaging and mayhem.
Despite Obama's late decision to launch air strikes, he has only tickled the enemy. He could do more. He won't. He doesn't want to. What is the reason for this procrastination?
Part of the reason for Obama's reticence in attacking ISIS with more force seems to be contained in a think tank policy document he commissioned entitled "The Iran Project. Iran and its Neighbors. Regional Implications for US Policy of a Nuclear Agreement."
Experts who signed off on this document include Thomas Pickering, Brent Scowcroft, Daniel Kurtzer, Nicholas Platt, and Zbigniew Brzezinski.
The document mistakenly sees the possibility of using ISIS to drive Iran and Israel closer together in a common cause. This misguided strategic fantasy is described thus, "If ISIS were to continue to progress, Israel and Iran might find themselves with a common enemy."
The dream of bringing Iran and Israel together seems so devoutly to be wished by the Obama Administration that it surmounts any political reality to facts on the ground.
Could this be the reason that America has not applied the full measure of air power at its disposal in killing and driving back ISIS?
If it is, it's dangerous and false thinking. It appears as if the U.S. president is cynically allowing thousands to be slaughtered in front of our eyes for a strategy that will never come to pass.
Does he, or his experts, really think that Iran and Israel will join his feckless coalition out of joint fear of ISIS? If so, he is dead wrong.
In contrast to President Obama's recent statements, the document does call ISIS a state of sorts. "ISIS is no longer just a terrorist group but represents a hybrid state/non-state threat."
The top strategic experts explain themselves thus, "In parts of the territory it now controls, ISIS exercises a kind of governance: it collects revenue, executes brutal Islamist law, has a police force, and controls a jihadist conventional army."
The only force that is bravely standing and confronting ISIS on the ground are the Kurds, and yet Obama is still not arming them directly. He should. Instead, the documents points to the U.S. administration playing a double game by recruiting not only Iran but also Tehran's ally Assad to fight against ISIS;
"Syrian forces should be urged by Tehran to attack ISIS directly in Syria. Syrian military commanders, security personnel, and top government o?cials should be motivated to avoid an ISIS victory."
However you read this, the administration think-tank policy document is calling on the White House to back an Iranian, Assad, even Hizb'allah coalition to fight ISIS in Syria.
A nuclear agreement with Iran runs through the document. It is the center piece of a U.S. Middle East policy. At parts it reads like a dream world of smoke and mirrors. "A nuclear agreement could help the United States and its allies ?nd common ground with Iran for a creative response to ISIS, although the United States must avoid seeming to ally itself with the Shi'a and thereby enhance the appeal of radicals to Sunnis."
It is hard to comprehend a policy in which the ISIS threat is seemingly put off until after the signing of a nuclear agreement with Iran on the supposition that it will make for closer buddies between the rival states in the region. As if Saudi Arabia and Erdogan would link arms with Ayatollahs and Assad to defeat ISIS. If only! Putting off a strong direct attack on ISIS until after a nuclear deal with Iran is dangerous wishful thinking, not foreign policy.
The mixing of two unrelated issues, a nuclear deal with Iran and the threat of ISIS, leads to a muddling Middle East strategy. The dangers implied here is that it is impossible to defeat ISIS without a nuclear deal, and from that stems the desire to rush through a nuclear deal in order to solve the ISIS issue.
"The degradation and defeat of ISIS presents an opportunity for America to work even-handedly with the nations of the region to achieve a common goal. Cooperation with Iran would thus take place within a larger regional grouping that should include the Gulf States and Turkey in addition to the Government of Iraq."
The reason this is doomed to failure is in the description of the nuclear deal that the administration is trying to reach. It talks of "limiting" the Iranian program, "lengthening" the time for Iran to reach nuclear breakout, and "reducing" the risk that Iran "might" acquire nuclear weapons. It does not talk of stopping Iran's march to a nuclear weapon.
Israel sees ISIS creeping closer to its border. It can visibly see the Al-Nusra terror group on the Golan Heights. ISIS is not far away, and the document states the threat for Israel;
"The 'Islamic State' declared an end to the 1916 British and French-imposed Sykes-Picot borders, and announced that its next goal would be to free Palestine."
This threat would give Israel a justification to get into the fight. If it did, it is more likely to assist the Kurds than get into bed with Iran, as the document wrongly suggests. Albeit indirectly arming and trained the brave Kurds, before the ISIS threat becomes a face-to-face confrontation for Israel, could become a necessity for Israel.
There is a case to be made for Israel to arm the Kurds, particularly in Iraq. The Kurds are close to America and sympathetic to Israel's plight in a radical region. They are more democratically minded than other players in the region. They have proven themselves to be the only courageous fighters on the ground in Iraq.
Israel sees convergence of interests with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt over the growing threat of the ISIS brand of Islamic terror. As happened with its conflict against Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, it is reasonable to assume that these countries will turn a blind eye to Israel arming the Kurds.
Israel looks on the Kurds with great sympathy, but it could do more. Helping them overcome their confrontation with ISIS would be one way for Israel to demonstrate to the world what a small, but courageous and just, coalition can achieve in a regional war against radical Islamic terror.
As the document states, "if allowed to consolidate its control over large parts of Syria and Iraq, ISIS would also represent a terrorist threat to the American homeland."
Turkey in the shadow of IS's flag - www.khouse.org
The contrast could not be starker. On one side of a barbed-wire fence, beneath plumes of smoke from air strikes and amid the rattle of gunfire, the bearded fighters of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) closed their grip on Kobane, a Kurdish town on Syria's northern border. On the other Turkey's soldiers, with tanks and armored personnel carriers, nonchalantly watch the show, stirring only to fire tear gas and beat back Kurdish protesters wanting to help their Syrian brethren.
The reluctance of Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to aid Kobane-even in the name of supporting his American allies as they give air support to the beleaguered defenders-is as obstinate as it is puzzling. It is also counter-productive, given that it drives a wedge between Turkey and America and heightens tension with Turkey's own Kurdish minority. It may yet rekindle Turkish Kurds' long but now dormant insurgency.
Mr. Erdogan says any help to the Syrian Kurds depends on them abandoning their de facto alliance with the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad, and joining the mainstream rebel alliance seeking to overthrow him. There were hopes in early October that this position would be softened after secret talks took place in Turkey between Syrian Kurds and assorted Turkish diplomats and spooks. The officials are said to have tentatively agreed to allow weapons from other Kurdish-run enclaves to transit Turkey and be delivered to the besieged forces of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protections Units (YPG). But Mr. Erdogan, who seems to defer to the country's more hawkish generals on Kurdish matters these days, is said to have quashed the idea. He also told America, which has been conducting air strikes in defense of Kobane that they would not get Turkish help unless they agreed to target Mr. Assad as well as IS., and set up a no-fly zone.
His inaction is stirring Kurdish accusations that Mr. Erdogan is either co-operating with IS's jihadists, or at least fears them less than he does the YPG, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has waged a decades-long insurgency for self-rule in Turkey. Yet Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned PKK leader, has warned that peace talks with the Turkish government would end if the jihadists were allowed to prevail. On October 7th young Kurds went on a rampage, burning vehicles, looting shops, and hurling Molotov cocktails and rocks at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons. More than 20 died.
Tanks and armored vehicles were deployed to impose curfews in the predominantly Kurdish cities of Diyarbakir, Batman, Bingol, and Van, as well as other areas. Mr. Erdogan's calculation that the Kurds cannot afford to open a second front against Turkey while they are grappling with the jihadists is being tested. Mr. Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development party may be hurt by the turmoil, especially if it scares off foreign investors before parliamentary elections due to be held next summer.
A sinister dimension is the fact that most of those killed in street violence died in clashes between sympathizers of rival Kurdish groups-the PKK on one side and Huda-Par, a pro-Islamic group, on the other. Huda-Par has links to an armed Kurdish faction known as Hezbollah (unconnected to the militia in Lebanon); in the 1990s it fought a nasty war against the PKK that left thousands of Kurds dead. Turkey's "deep state," dominated by rogue generals, is widely believed to have egged on the Islamists against their nationalist brethren. Mr. Erdogan's much-vaunted peace process with the Kurds is fast collapsing.
ISIS training pilots to fly in captured fighter jets - http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/iraqonthebrink/islamic-state-training-pilots-to-fly-in-three-jets/article1-1276499.aspx?htsw0023
Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, a group monitoring the war said on Friday, saying it was the first time that the militant group had taken to the air.
The group, which has seized land in Syria and Iraq, has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report and US Central Command said it was not aware of Islamic State flying jets in Syria.
US-led forces are bombing Islamic State bases in Syria and Iraq. The group has regularly used weaponry captured from the Syrian and Iraqi armies and has overrun several military bases but this was the first time it had been able to pilot warplanes.
"They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein," Abdulrahman said.
"People saw the flights, they went up many times from the airport and they are flying in the skies outside the airport and coming back," he said, citing witnesses in northern Aleppo province near the base, which is 70 km (45 miles) south of Turkey.
It was not clear whether the jets were equipped with weaponry or whether the pilots could fly longer distances in the planes, which witnesses said appeared to be MiG 21 or MiG 23 models captured from the Syrian military.
"We're not aware of (Islamic State) conducting any flight operations in Syria or elsewhere," US Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder said.
"We continue to keep a close eye on (Islamic State) activity in Syria and Iraq and will continue to conduct strikes against their equipment, facilities, fighters and centres of gravity, wherever they may be."
Pro-Islamic State Twitter accounts had previously posted pictures of captured jets in other parts of Syria, but the aircraft had appeared unusable, according to analysts and diplomats.
The countryside east of Aleppo city is one of the main bases of Islamic State in Syria, where the al Qaeda offshoot controls up to a third of the country's territory.
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