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"The U.S. government desperately needs new and better tools to fight the information war against the Islamic State (ISIS) and other terrorist networks."

The Syrian Arab Army's Central Command and their allies have been planning for this offensive for a long time now; it is expected to be the largest military operation to take place during this brutal war against ISIS.

This article delves into the issues of war crimes, chemical weapons, humanitarian issues, and the rise if islamist groups interventions

This website offers eight steps to understanding the Syrian conflict. The sections include: uprising turns violent, descent into civil war, war crimes, chemical weapons, humanitarian crisis, Syrian refugees in the region, rebels and the rise of the jihadists, peace efforts, & proxy war

More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State.

Article goes over why Syria and Iran have remained very close. Surprising alliance given that Syria is Arab and Iran is Islam which tend to be at odds with one another. Alliance against Iraq strengthened them as well.

This article was ignited after Obama's nomination of Garland to the Supreme Court. Garland is a Jewish which makes the Supreme Court 4 Catholics and 3 Jews. This article goes deeper into Government and looks at the statistics of Jews, WASPS, and Catholics in the Government. There is a distinct lack of Islamic or Muslim persons in the government. This article is based on how this could hurt U.S. chances with all foreign policy in the MIddle East.

Due to Libya's lack of institutional structure and weak centralized government, rival militia violence and clashes have created constant chaos leading the country towards another civil war. After the fall of Qaddafi, who obliterated institutions necessary for a functional government, Libya has been unable to manage the state. The National Transitional Council, which replaced the Qaddafi Regime, turned into the General National Congress and was given 18 months to form a democratic constitution. When the deadline passed the constitution was incomplete, which forced Congress to organize elections to a new House of Representatives. The former GNC members declared a new self proclaimed GNC, electing Omar al-Hasi as their prime minister. The new GNC is not recognized by Libya's parliament nor is it by the international community. Al Jazeera says the country literally has two parliaments and two governments, creating inconceivable instability throughout the state. The newly elected House has moved to Tobruk after armed islamic GNC militia groups overran the capital, seizing control over the major institutions in Tripoli. Due to this lack of a functional government, the rest of the state has turned to chaos. After the civil war, anti and pro Qaddafi forces branched into militias striving for power. Without a working state and government, militias had to rely on themselves to provide security, and really have no incentive to give up arms and no true government to be a part of. General Khalifa Hifter, a former Qaddafi general who later joined the Libyan rebel army in 2011, formed an anti-militia militia, targeting islamist militias like Ansar al-Sharia. Hifter is not affiliated with either of the governments, but rather strives for a military government, and supreme control of the armed forces.

BBC discusses the effect of IS and the current political state of Libya.

Ayat. Seyyed Ali Khamenei, leader of Iran's Islamic revolution, speaks on nuclear negotiations, regarding western dispute over Iran's nuclear program. He says " No deal is better than a deal which contradicts national interests." Other issues concern Iran's purposes for the nuclear program and political decisions for sanctions to be lifted.

A second round of talks will be held in Moscow. These talks are said to focus on humanitarian issues in Syria. 

recent gains by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and the well-publicized executions of captured American freelance journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff have once again drawn U.S. military assets and personnel into a civil war.

The House Judiciary Committee recently passed a resolution calling on the State Department to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. This resolution resonates with the feverish anti-Islamic politics of the Republican primary, fueled across the spectrum by candidates from Donald Trump to Marco Rubio. Other countries even in the Middle East have officially stated the Brotherhood as a terrorist group. There is much debate on their stance and beliefs and what this should mean to the international community especially in a time of instability in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy and theocracy based on Islamic law located on the Arabian Peninsula. The World Economic Forum has ranked Saudi Arabia as 131 out of 135 countries in their Global Gender Gap Index | World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index retrieved 4 May 2013 with a score of zero for the category of female political empowerment.

Ninety-eight percent of Egyptians voted yes for a new constitution. Sharia law was debated by the Egyptian Christians. The new constitution is seen as an improvement to the Muslim Brotherhood constitution. 

The article is about how many Austrian teens are running away to become ISIL fighters. A new way of Islamophobia is occurring in Austria.

A London rapper identified as a possible suspect for "Jihadi John", the masked Isil executioner, appeared in a television news report during the 2011 London riots, breaking into a live interview to lambast the police. "The police are protecting the police," he says. "They're not protecting the people."

The US-led coalition has carried out air strikes against the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria, where the jihadists have launched a new offensive and kidnapped 220 Assyrian Christians. The raids on Thursday struck areas around the town of Tal Tamr in Hasakeh province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, without giving information on possible casualties.

Turkey has announced that, along with the US, they will be training some 2,000 Syrian rebels. Tensions have been rising between Syria and Turkey ever since Turkey went into Syria to retrieve a historical figure and relocate him but they are hoping this move will calm the tensions between the two states. 

Libya's legally installed government has sent fighters to confront the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the northern city of Sirte. Sources told Al Jazeera that the Tripoli-based government deployed Misrata's 166 battalion, backed by rebels, to tackle ISIL in Sirte.

"President Obama said that he and other world leaders have offered Iran an 'extraordinarily reasonable deal' that will test whether the leadership of the Islamic nation is serious about at last resolving the dispute over its nuclear program." If Iran verifies that they are not developing a weapons system, then there is a deal to be had. However, they have not said yes to any verifications or program constraints.