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kthomsen2017

Arabs Give Tepid Support to U.S. Fight Against ISIS - NYTimes.com - 1 views

  • allies like Egypt, Jordan and Turkey all finding ways on Thursday to avoid specific commitments to President Obama’s expanded military campaign against Sunni extremists.
    • kthomsen2017
       
      Can they still be allies if they go back on their commitment to the U.S.A?
  • first American strikes inside Syria crackled through the region, the mixed reactions underscored the challenges of a new military intervention in the Middle East, where 13 years of chaos, from Sept. 11 through the Arab Spring revolts, have deepened political and sectarian divisions and increased mistrust of the United States on all sides.
  • The tepid support could further complicate the already complex task Mr. Obama has laid out for himself in fighting the extremist Islamic State in Iraq and Syria:
  • ...20 more annotations...
  • He must try to confront the group without aiding Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, or appearing to side with Mr. Assad’s Shiite allies, Iran and the militant group Hezbollah, against discontented Sunnis across the Arab world.
  • While Arab nations allied with the United States vowed on Thursday to “do their share” to fight ISIS and issued a joint communiqué supporting a broad strategy, the underlying tone was one of reluctance.
  • Syria and the United States were “fighting the same enemy,” terrorism, and that his government had “no reservations” about airstrikes as long as the United States coordinated with it
  • Egypt’s hands were full with its own fight against “terrorism,” referring to the Islamist opposition.
  • Turkey, which Mr. Kerry will visit on Friday, is concerned about attacks across its long border with ISIS-controlled Syria, and also about 49 Turkish government employees captured by the group in Iraq
  • an official advised not to expect public support for the American effort.
  • at least 10 Arab states signed a communiqué pledging to join “in the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign,” but with the qualification “as appropriate” and without any specifics.
  • Turkey attended the meeting but declined to sign.
  • in Baghdad and across Syria, where the threat from ISIS is immediate, reactions were mixed
  • But many Sunni Muslims were cynical about battling an organization that evolved from jihadist groups fighting American occupation.
  • Members of Iraq’s Shiite majority cheered the prospect of American help.
  • ISIS has avowed enemies on both sides of the region’s Sunni-Shiite divide.
  • For Shiites, whom ISIS views as apostates deserving death, the group poses an existential threat, yet Shiite-led Iran, a longtime foe of the United States, is excluded from the coalition.
  • Egypt and Syria, revolts that Sunni Islamists saw as their chance at power have been rolled back or brutally thwarted.
  • “The Sunnis need to feel that they have a voice in their capitals,” said Ibrahim Hamidi,
  • “Otherwise, you push more Sunnis toward ISIS.”
  • But that, he said, would require fancy footwork from Mr. Obama to “make it clear this is about American security, not about favoring any side in the Syrian civil conflict.”
  • Mr. Crocker said American attacks would “get people’s attention in Raqqa and elsewhere,”
  • Members of a range of Syrian insurgent groups that consider ISIS an enemy said they, too, opposed American strikes unless they also targeted the government.
  • And even those most supportive of the strikes — members of the American-vetted groups that stand to gain new aid to fight ISIS — complained that the United States had abetted the extremists’ rise by failing to help other insurgents earlier. They said the United States was attacking ISIS now only because the group threatened it as well as the broader world.
ajwhitney

Arab Nations Offer to Fight ISIS From Air - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • Several Arab countries have offered to carry out airstrikes against militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, senior State Department officials said Sunday.
  • Secretary of State John Kerry
  • Mr. Kerry, who is in Paris to attend an international conference the French are hosting on Monday on providing aid to the new Iraqi government, has already visited Baghdad; Amman, Jordan; Jidda, Saudi Arabia; Ankara, Turkey; and Cairo.
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  • 10 Arab countries joined the United States in issuing a communiqué that endorsed efforts to confront and ultimately “destroy” ISIS, including military action to which nations would contribute “as appropriate.”
  • The United States has a broad definition of what it would mean to contribute to the military campaign.
  • “Providing arms could be contributing to the military campaign,” said a second State Department official. “Any sort of training activity would be contributing to the military campaign.”
  • President François Hollande of France told Iraqi officials that his country would be willing to carry out airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq,
  • Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia has also said that his country will join the air campaign and is sending as many as eight FA-18 attack planes, as well as an early warning aircraft and a refueling plane.
  • such as flying arms to Erbil in the Kurdistan region or Baghdad, conducting reconnaissance flights or providing logistical support and refueling. The officials said the Arab offers were under discussion.
  • its airstrikes on the defense of Erbil, securing the Mosul Dam and protecting the Haditha Dam.
  • “The Iraqis have asked for assistance in the border regions, and that’s something we’re looking at,” the first State Department official said.
  • “They have a very new air force,” a third State Department official said, referring to the Iraqi military. “Their targeting is not nearly as precise as ours and they have made some real mistakes.”
  • Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide bases for training moderate Syrian rebels
  • “I disagree completely with ISIS in thought and means, but I do not accept that America fights them,” said the scholar, Sheikh Yusef Qaradawi, leader of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, in a Twitter message reported around the region. The United States, he said, “is not moved by Islamic values but by its own interests, even if it spills blood.”
  • his scholars’ union declared ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliphate “null and void,” arguing that its extremism stigmatized more mainstream Islamists and undermined broader Sunni opposition movements in Syria and Iraq.
  • Now his criticism of the American role may increase the fears of a backlash against Arab governments that publicly join the campaign.
  • groups of Iraqi forces, Kurds and Syrian rebels stepped up to provide the fighting forces on the ground.
    • ajwhitney
       
      Why would we not help them in forces as well as training an information to settle things faster?
  • Qatar hosting an American military headquarters.
  • choke off ISIS’s ability to reap $1 million or more a day from oil sales,
    • ajwhitney
       
      I did not realize they made THAT much money off of their oil!
  • trainers from other Western countries.
    • ajwhitney
       
      Which countries besides the US?
michaelmcconnell

From Turkey, ISIS Draws Steady Stream of Recruits - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • , Can did not think he had much to lose when he was smuggled into Syria with 10 of his childhood friends to join the world’s most extreme jihadist group.
  • He said he shot two men and participated in a public execution. It was only after he buried a man alive that he was told he had become a full ISIS fighter.
  • ‘God is the greatest,’ which gives you divine strength to kill the enemy without being fazed by blood or splattered guts,”
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  • But one of the biggest source of recruits is neighboring Turkey, a NATO member with an undercurrent of Islamist discontent.
  • Recruits cite the group’s ideological appeal to disaffected youths as well as the money it pays fighters from its flush coffers.
  • Turkey declined to sign a communiqué last Thursday that committed a number of regional states to take “appropriate” new measures to counter ISIS, frustrating American officials.
  • Hacibayram, a ramshackle neighborhood in the heart of Ankara’s tourist district, has morphed into an ISIS recruitment hub over the past year. Locals say up to 100 residents have gone to fight for the group in Syria.
  • Children have started to spend more time online since the municipality knocked down the only school in the area last year as part of an aggressive urban renewal project.
  • “There are now seven mosques in the vicinity, but not one school,”
  • When a young Syrian girl walked past them, they pounced on her, knocking her to the floor and pushing their toy rifles against her head. “I’m going to kill you, whore,” one of the boys shouted before launching into sound effects that imitated a machine gun.The other boy quickly lost interest and walked away. “Toys are so boring,” he said. “I have real guns upstairs.”
  • The boy’s father, who owns a nearby market, said he fully supported ISIS’s vision for Islamic governance and hoped to send the boy and his other sons to Raqqa when they are older.
  • “ISIS is brutal,” he said. “They interpret the Quran for their own gains. God never ordered Muslims to kill Muslims.”
  • Still, he said many were drawn to the group for financial reasons, as it appealed to disadvantaged youth in less prosperous parts of Turkey. “When you fight, they offer $150 a day. Then everything else is free,” he said. “Even the shopkeepers give you free products out of fear.”
  • At the same time, a 10-year-old boy lingered in his family’s shop, laughing at the crowd rushing to get a glimpse of the two leaders. He had just listened to a long lecture from his father celebrating ISIS’ recent beheading of James Foley, an American journalist. “He was an agent and deserved to die,” the man told his son, half-smirking through his thick beard.To which the boy replied, “Journalists, infidels of this country; we’ll kill them all.”
mcmecke

ISIS, ISIL Or Islamic State: What's In A Name? : Parallels : NPR - 0 views

  • "They're claiming to represent all Muslims everywhere — they have declared the establishment of a new caliphate,"
  • the abbreviation IS — Blank says he's seen its usage increase over the past two months.
  • the self-declared Islamic State" or some equivalent phrase, use ISIS in later references and, when necessary, explain that ISIL is another widely used acronym.)
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  • That's a direct translation of the group's full name in Arabic, but "Syria" in this case means "Greater Syria" — not the modern nation by that name.
  • "It refers to Syria, Lebanon, parts of Turkey, parts of what are now Jordan," Blank explains. "The 'S' in the Arabic is "al-Sham."
  • It's a bit confusing: the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-but-not-just-"Syria."
  • preferred by the Obama administration translates "al-Sham" as "the Levant," another name for the same region — one that isn't as misleading as "Syria."
  • The word "Levant" isn't very common today.
  • a once-common term that now has something of an antique whiff about it, like 'the Orient.' Because of the term's French colonial associations, many Arab nationalists and Islamist radicals disdain it, and it is unlikely that the militant group would choose 'Levant' to render its name."
  • "the Islamic State" — is a key piece of propaganda for the group, especially when it comes to targeting potential terrorist recruits.
  • none of these foreign fighters see themselves as terrorists. They see themselves as knights. They see themselves as mujahedeen. They see themselves as freedom fighters," Blank says. "So they're very interested in fighting for the Islamic State, and they do not regard what they are doing as in any way an act of terrorism."
  • "That's a totally different narrative, and it's one that the U.S. can facilitate, but the U.S. cannot really control."
  •  
    Acronyms: ISIS or ISIL?
chughes2017

Syrian Leaders See Opportunities and Risks in U.S. Striking ISIS on Their Soil - NYTime... - 0 views

  • Now, though, he and his inner circle believe they have been granted a reprieve — at least politically
  • by President Obama’s declaration that he may strike in Syria against the extremist group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,
  • part of a ramped-up campaign against ISIS, carry new risks.
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  • unsure who would benefit militarily — government forces, or Syrian insurgents and separatist Kurds, who have also clashed with the foreign-led ISIS militants.
  • “So unless the U.S. successfully kills key ISIS commanders in Syria,” Mr. Sayigh said, “its military impact will be limited there in the short and possibly medium term.”
  • the American campaign will have little impact on the ground
  • Many in the government believe the campaign was designed for political reasons to show that the United States is acting against ISIS
  • the first step in any serious effort would be forcing Turkey, an American ally and NATO member, to stop the flow of ISIS fighters across its borders
  • Mr. Assad’s inner circle who believe that he faces less and less pressure to compromise, and that the West will eventually ally with him against ISIS
  • Video of an attack on the Tabaqa air base shows soldiers fleeing, apparently unarmed, into the desert, and being gunned down by ISIS fighters.
  • “If we lose more areas, we will be doomed,”
  • “After three years the army is tired and depleted.”
  • Still, the Tartus woman and many other government supporters say they see no alternative to Mr. Assad to protect them from ISIS.
  • there is a sense of dejection and a belief that the new focus on ISIS has derailed what was left of Western political will to oust Mr. Assad or foster a political compromise any time soon.
  • where video on Sunday showed children wounded in heavy government airstrikes.
  • BEIRUT, Lebanon — The fortunes of President Bashar al-Assad have suffered over the past two months, with battlefield setbacks and new signs of doubt emerging within his political base, as the civil war in Syria drags on with no end in sight.
michaelmcconnell

Maker of Hepatitis C Drug Strikes Deal on Generics for Poor Countries - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • said it will begin selling its own version of the drug in India and other developing countries at a fraction of the price it charges in the United States.
    • michaelmcconnell
       
      Shows it is spreading to other countries
  • Some 350,000 people die every year of Hepatitis C infections, most of them in middle- and low-income nations.
  • Its high price has led to intense criticism even in the United States, where officials say it could wreck Medicaid budgets and insurers say it could cause increases in private insurance premiums.
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  • In the United States, Sovaldi costs $1,000 a pill or $84,000 for a typical 12-week course of treatment. It is likely to be sold for less than $1,800 for a 24-week course of treatment in India, where people are generally infected with a different form of the virus and treatment regimens can take twice as long.
  • Gilead plans to introduce the drug in India for about $10 a pill
  • more than half of the world’s infected population.
  • “Really what we’re trying to do here through the partnerships we’ve established is expand availability of chronic Hepatitis C therapy, particularly in the developing world,”
  • The Indian companies were selected for the partnerships because much of the world’s finished drugs are made in India, particularly for developing countries.
  • Hepatitis C infections are caused by a virus that is generally transmitted through medical procedures, intravenous drug use or sex. Infections can go undetected and unnoticed for years but can eventually cause liver scarring and failure
  • Gilead’s deals were instantly criticized by some patient advocacy groups as inadequate, because under terms of the deals the companies would not be allowed to sell their drugs in some middle-income countries where patients and governments would struggle to afford the drug.
  • But he said the company would provide many such countries discounted prices on its own version of the pill.
johntraurig2017

Democrats Plan Bill Authorizing U.S. Military to Train Enemies of ISIS - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • Democrats Plan Bill Authorizing U.S. Military to Train Enemies of ISIS
  • WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leaders on Wednesday prepared legislation to expressly authorize the United States military to train Syrian rebels to help battle the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and House Republicans appeared ready to follow their lead.
    • johntraurig2017
       
      Only aerial attacks?
  • would not be American
    • johntraurig2017
       
      This is good. How many ground forces would we need? 
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  • Having occupied crucial sections of Syria over the past year and more recently seizing vast areas of Iraq, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria controls territory greater than many countries and now rivals Al Qaeda as the world’s most powerful jihadist group.
    • johntraurig2017
       
      This is crazy...and scary. ISIS is really powerful and a big threat. They control lots and lots of area. 
  • even as he expressed strong opposition to deploying American ground troops.
    • johntraurig2017
       
      I think we should only do aerial attacks. I think it would be less dangerous than if we did ground attacks. 
  • The president is still wrestling with a series of challenges, including how to intervene without aiding President Bashar al-Assad, and how to enlist potentially reluctant partners like Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
    • johntraurig2017
       
      We need to keep them out of it...that would be big. 
  • “The president has now declared that defeating ISIL is his objective,” he said. “That’s a good start. But Americans don’t want a lecture. They want a plan — a credible, comprehensive plan to deal with this menace that clearly wants to harm us here at home, and that is only becoming stronger by the day.”
    • johntraurig2017
       
      Very interesting and relatable quote. 
  • Mr. Obama’s speech to the nation, on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,
    • johntraurig2017
       
      is it ironic that he is giving a speech one day before a group of terrorists attacked America? Or just coincidence? 
  • The harrowing images, captured on video and circulated around the world, have turned American public opinion in favor of military action against the militants, recent polls show, and appear to have moved a president who had long resisted military engagement in Syria. And the United States has conducted airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.
    • johntraurig2017
       
      The videos are really clear and high definition...they want us to watch the videos and be scared. Propaganda.  
gracegriffin

U.N.'s Ban urges Assad to seek political solution to Syria crisis | Reuters - 0 views

  • U.N.'s Ban urges Assad to seek political solution to Syria crisis
  • U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged President Bashar al-Assad to seek a political solution to Syria's war, saying this would help international efforts against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, al-Hayat newspaper reported on Wednesday.
  • In an interview with the pan-Arab daily, Ban said years of war between Assad's forces and armed rebel groups had allowed militants such as Islamic State to take root in the region.
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  • Asked whether Assad would have any role to play in an international coalition being assembled to fight Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the U.N. chief said Assad could contribute by working politically towards an end to the war in his country.
  • slamic State, a militarily-powerful al Qaeda offshoot that wants to create a jihadist hub in the heart of the Arab world, has made rapid territorial gains in both Iraq and Syria in recent months that have alarmed regional and Western powers.
  • when Assad was sworn in for a new term as president, he vowed to recover all Syria from Islamist insurgents and dismissed the Syrian opposition abroad as traitors. But he also said he would be willing to work with the country's internal opposition, without giving details.
  • The United States has carried out weeks of air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, but the outlook for U.S. air raids in Syria is much less clear.
  • While Iraq's government welcomed the role of U.S. warplanes to attack the militants, Assad has warned that any strikes conducted without his country's permission would be considered an act of aggression, potentially plunging any U.S.-led coalition into a broader conflict with Syria.
  • OPPOSING SIDES
  • "But it is important that the international community is united and shows strong support for any action that has to be taken to root out this terrorism."
  • Assad's military has stepped up air strikes
  • which controls about a third of Syria's territory
  • International and regional powers have backed opposing sides in the civil war, with Russia and Iran supporting Assad and Western powers and Gulf Arab states largely backing the rebels.
  • Ban also said a U.N. Security Council decision to support military action against Islamic State would be "an excellent and an appropriate way" to deal with the group but that its brutal killings were why, "some countries took some military action," in a reference to U.S. air strikes in Iraq.
  • U.S. President Barack Obama is expected on Wednesday to outline a plan to deal with Islamic State. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad as he began a tour of the Middle East to build military, political and financial support to defeat the militants.
mwhitney2017

The Push to Keep Scotland in the Fold - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • nine days
  • recent polls suggesting that the outcome is very much in doubt
  • fly north to campaign
  • ...32 more annotations...
  • more say over its own affairs if it votes to stay in the union
  • warned Scots against thinking that they could count on retaining the pound sterling as their currency should they secede.
  • Jane McGeachy
  • wants change
  • Gordon Brown
  • former prime minister and a Scot
  • new political powers for Scotland if voters rejected
  • greed Tuesday to put the legislation on a fast track
  • unimpressed
  • women, who were more cautious earlier in the campaign, are turning toward the “yes” camp, as are working-class voters, even though the Labour Party opposes independence.
  • more socially inclusive country that it says can be built only with the powers that independence would bring
  • British Parliament in Westminster is seen by many voters as remote and out of touch
  • The Conservative Party
  • 59 seats in Parliament
  • a society for the greedy people
  • have been torn down and a big new shopping complex opened.
  • attracting many disillusioned people who normally do not vote at all.
  • supported independence partly out of despair with his current situation.
  • £100 (about $160) a week
  • had depression
  • economy would be hurt by independence
  • Alex Salmond
  • cotland’s oil wealth
  • keep the pound
  • maintaining a common currency after independence was “incompatible with sovereignty.”
  • they are bluffing and that if London refused to negotiate a currency union, Scotland would walk away from its share of the national debt.
  • I’m sick of the English telling us what to do,
  • I think someone would strangle him.
  • emphasizing freedom and opportunity and a once-in-a-lifetime chance for self-determination,
  • is attractive to many who are still undecided.
  • struggled to shake off a reputation for negativity
  • she had not yet made up her mind
  •  
    GLASGOW - With nine days left before Scotland votes on whether to become independent, Britain's leaders went into overdrive on Tuesday with efforts to keep the country intact.
ajwhitney

Saudi anti-Christian sweep prompts calls for US involvement | Fox News - 0 views

  • "Saudi Arabia is continuing the religious cleansing that has always been its official policy,"
  • "Saudi Arabia is continuing the religious cleansing that has always been its official policy,"
  • "Saudi Arabia is continuing the religious cleansing that has always been its official policy,"
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  • "Saudi Arabia is continuing the religious cleansing that has always been its official policy,"
    • ajwhitney
       
      I wonder if they only allow one religion, a certain few, or something like this.
  • "It is the only nation state in the world with the official policy of banning all churches. This is enforced even though there are over 2 million Christian foreign workers in that country. Those victimized are typically poor, from Asian and African countries with weak governments."
    • ajwhitney
       
      Funny how they only attack the weak and not the strong, though I doubt they allow many Christians to become wealthy, powerful, etc.
  • Some reports said the Christians were men and women, while the Saudi Gazette wrote that children, as well as men and women, were detained.
    • ajwhitney
       
      I wonder why they tell different stories...
  • Saudi Arabia has gone to great lengths over the years to re-brand its image as a tolerant advocate of multi-religious dialogue.
    • ajwhitney
       
      Kind of contradictory. 
  • "The West should demand that its strategic ally, Saudi Arabia, release the Christians at once and allow them to pray according to their own faith traditions.
    • ajwhitney
       
      I wonder if people would then get mad because the US isn't supposed to be Christian based or whatever.
jamescmcguire

Lila Abu-Lughod: Do Muslim Women Need Saving? | TIME.com - 0 views

  • But we were confusing veiling with a lack of agency. What most of us didn’t know is that 30 years ago the anthropologist Hanna Papanek described the burqa as “portable seclusion” and noted that many women saw it as a liberating invention because it enabled them to move out of segregated living spaces while still observing the requirements of separating and protecting women from unrelated men.
    • rtussey
       
      But isn't the problem that they feel they need protection from "unrelated men"? True they are able to go into public, but their living spaces are still segregated. She goes on to critique Western women for feeling liberated but still being constricted by "tyrannies of fashion." However, I don't see these two issues as comparable. True, American women will face criticism and experience disadvantages if they do not conform to basic social beauty norms, but they will still be allowed to leave their homes and interact with society. 
  • A moral crusade to rescue oppressed Muslim women from their cultures and their religion has swept the public sphere, dissolving distinctions between conservatives and liberals, sexists and feminists. The crusade has justified all manner of intervention from the legal to the military, the humanitarian to the sartorial. But it has also reduced Muslim women to a stereotyped singularity, plastering a handy cultural icon over much more complicated historical and political dynamics.
  • There is no doubt that Western notions of human rights can be credited for the hope for a better world for all women. But I suspect that the deep moral conviction people feel about the rightness of saving the women of that timeless homogeneous mythical place called Islamland is fed by something else that cannot be separated from our current geopolitical relations. Blinded to the diversity of Muslim women’s lives, we tend to see our own situation too comfortably. Representing Muslim women as
andie324

Afghanistan accuses US of killing civilians in airstrike | Al Jazeera America - 0 views

  • who has often criticized the conduct of NATO forces
  • id 14 people died
  • and another 13 were wounded.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • At least 14 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday, sparking condemnation from President Hamid Karzai, who has often criticized the conduct of NATO forces.
    • andie324
       
      Why did the US deploy an airstrike? What was the purpose? Will Afghanistan retaliate? 
  • Civilian casualties in the U.S.-led military coalition’s war against the Taliban have been one of the most contentious issues in the 13-year combat campaign that will end by December. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) made no immediate comment on Tuesday's airstrike, but it often stresses avoiding civilian casualties.
    • andie324
       
      The airstrikes by the US in Afghanistan were acts of offense to fight against the Taliban, who are currently in control.
  • "Four of our villagers were on their way back home from work when airplanes bombed them," he told AFP. "When people went to the area to collect their bodies or take the wounded people to hospital, we were bombed again. Dozens of people, including women and children were killed, or wounded."
    • andie324
       
      Innocent civilians and villagers in Afghanistan are being killed by the airstrikes. 
wmaley

ISIS mass execution survivor: "I didn't want to make a sound" - CBS News - 0 views

  • The U.S. airstrikes in Iraq that began a month ago saved thousands of refugees
  • Mount Sinjar
  • topped the ISIS advance on the Kurdish capital of Erbil.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • with its own military called the Peshmerga
  • Kurdistan
  • Kirkuk is the gateway to Iraq's oil fields.
  • the American air campaign means ISIS can't mass its forces or move with any speed.
  • Thanks to the U.S. airstrikes, the Peshmerga are now on the offensive
  • moving toward Mosul which is an occupied city of more than a million and a half people.
  • The Kurds are asking the White House for tanks and artillery, to break lines like this.
    • wmaley
       
      will the long commitment be worth it end the end, or should the government strategize another solution?
  • Electricity only shows up once every two days.
  • shortage of medicine.
  • "They control life, clothing, everything in a very harsh way, very strict and very strict punishments," he said.
    • wmaley
       
      they want to instill fear in other people
  • posting those punishments online
  • "When I was hit, I didn't want to make a sound because anyone who made a noise, they'd come over and shoot them in the head," he said.
  • Mosul is like a big prison with limited water and gas,"
  • War is like a bridge - once you're on it, you can't get off until you see it through.
rkosmos2017

Arab Nations Offer to Fight ISIS From Air - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • The Obama administration said Sunday that “several” Arab nations had offered to join in airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
  • American officials have made it clear they do not want the airstrikes to get ahead of the ground action against ISIS, which they said would take time to mass.
  • “We don’t want this to look like an American war.”
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  • Specifically, senior Iraqi and Kurdish officials asked the United States as recently as this weekend to take action along the Iraqi-Syrian border to deprive ISIS of the safe havens it enjoys in that area.
  • “success looks like an ISIL that no longer threatens our friends in the region, no longer threatens the United States, an ISIL that can’t accumulate followers or threaten Muslims in Syria, Iraq or otherwise.”
  • declined to say which states had offered to contribute air power
  • The United States has identified ISIS targets in Iraq over the past several weeks. But officials said they were waiting, in part, to match the allied commitments with actual contributions: warplanes, support aircraft that can refuel or provide intelligence, more basing agreements to carry out strikes, and the insertion of trainers from other Western countries.
  • Arab nations could participate in an air campaign against ISIS in other ways without dropping bombs, such as by flying arms to Iraqi or Kurdish forces, conducting reconnaissance flights or providing logistical support and refueling.
  • Mr. Kerry characterized the strategy in an effort to make it easier for Sunni states to explain to their own populations why they would be contributing forces against Sunni extremists.
gcolley2017

ISIS Video Shows Execution of David Cawthorne Haines, British Aid Worker - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • a vital ally of the United States
    • gcolley2017
       
      ISIS is trying to not only directly attack us with the execution of Americans, but also attack the country we are close to. Will Britain want to stop being our ally since ISIS is now attacking their people as well?
  • the British public that in the end will pay the price for our Parliament’s selfish decisions.
  • Alan Henning, another British citizen
    • gcolley2017
       
      How many people do they have captured to victimize next?
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  • We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.
    • gcolley2017
       
      Similar reaction to Obama. 
  • the start of a campaign of airstrikes against ISIS positions in Iraq.
  • The group is currently holding Mr. Henning and another British citizen, as well as two other American aid workers.
    • gcolley2017
       
      This answers my prior question somewhat, but how does NYT know these people have been kidnapped by ISIS. Is there any preventative measures we can take to keep ISIS from executing them too?
  • ISIS warned that the hostages would die if relatives made their identities public.
    • gcolley2017
       
      Is ISIS using social media to connect with these families? Doesn't that go against their Jihadist lifestyle?
  • “We don’t pay ransoms to terrorists when they kidnap our citizens.”
    • gcolley2017
       
      Desperate times may call for desperate measures, ISIS may make Cameron regret saying this. 
  • two dozen foreigner
  • Nonviolent Peaceforce,
  • tortured
    • gcolley2017
       
      PINK: this poor man seems like such a good guy and all of this happened to him. ISIS is definitely picking the right people, because this man sure does make an effect! 
  • Handicap International, a disability charity,
  • David was most alive and enthusiastic in his humanitarian roles,
  • The BBC reported that imams across Scotland, where Mr. Haines’s parents live, called for the release of Mr. Haines and other hostages during Friday Prayer last week.
kthomsen2017

Democrats Plan Bill Authorizing U.S. Military to Train Enemies of ISIS - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • orizing U.S. Military to Train Enemies of ISIS
  • Democrats Plan Bill Auth
  • orizing U.S. Military to Train Enemies of ISIS
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • and MARK LANDLERSEPT. 10, 2014
  • WASHINGTON
  • Photo President Obama spoke with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in the Oval Office. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Share This Page email facebook twitter save more Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story
mgt2011

U.S. General Is Open to Ground Force to Fight ISIS in Iraq - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • ground operations against Islamic extremists in Iraq if airstrikes prove insufficient, opening the door to a riskier, more expansive American combat role than the president has publicly outlined.
    • mgt2011
       
      How aware are we of how well their military can fight in that kind of war fare
  • something Mr. Obama has ruled out.
    • mgt2011
       
      why has he ruled this out
  • Mr. Obama, seeking to allay fears of another Iraq war, has promised that American ground troops will not be involved in fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. In a sign of the administration’s mixed message, the president pointedly did not call it a war, while his advisers later did.
    • mgt2011
       
      Two different government leaders saying two very different things. Is Obama afraid of fighting? 
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • hances of civilian casualties are much higher.
    • mgt2011
       
      important
  • The White House insisted on Tuesday that Mr. Obama was not shifting his policy and that General Dempsey was not out of sync with his commander in chief.
    • mgt2011
       
      these mixed messages are so alarming because it is clear that they are scrambling to form a plan 
  • the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, said to reporters. “It’s also the responsibility of the commander in chief to set out a clear policy.”
    • mgt2011
       
      important
  • The challenge will come, General Dempsey said, when Iraqi and Kurdish forces try to drive the militants out of densely-populated urban areas like Mosul.
    • mgt2011
       
      human shield
  • “To many of us that seems like an inadequate response,” he said.
    • mgt2011
       
      are we doing enough? When is it too much? Is it ever too much? 
jamescmcguire

Getting Started with Chrome extension - Diigo help - 0 views

  • Use the “Save” option to bookmark a page. Bookmarking saves a link to the page in your online Diigo library, allowing you to easily access it later.
  • Highlighting can also be accomplished from the context pop-up. After the Chrome extension is installed, whenever you select text on a webpage, the context pop-up will appear, allowing you to accomplish text-related annotation. Highlight Pop-up Menu – After you highlight some text, position your mouse cursor over it and the highlight pop-up menu will appear. The highlight pop-up menu allows you to add notes to, share, or delete the highlight.
  • Sticky Note Click the middle icon on the annotation toolbar to add a sticky note to the page. With a sticky note, you can write your thoughts anywhere on a web page.
wmaley

The Grand Strategy Obama Needs - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • his effort this week to seem more muscular relies so much on a military solution that it risks a broader military entanglement.
    • wmaley
       
      history is repeating itself
  • look back to 1956
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • he Soviet Union invaded Hungary to crush a revolution while Britain and France, seeking to regain the Suez Canal, collaborated with Israel in a war against Egypt.
  • backed away from challenging the Soviet suppression of Hungary, then forced America’s European allies into an ignominious retreat from Egypt.
  • Eisenhower had a larger goal — not upsetting the delicate balance of power in the Cold War. Above all, he sought to avoid greater conflict, especially when he was trying to start arms control talks with Moscow.
    • wmaley
       
      it was better in the long run to think ahead rather than solving the problem temporarily. 
  • Today’s Russian menace and Islamic State horrors are threats to be sure, but largely because Ukraine, Syria, Iraq and other potential targets all contain within them ethnic groups and sects fighting over power and influence.
  • Both trace to political fragmentation in weak states living within unsettled borders. That leaves those states prone to internal dissent, and America’s recent minimalist posture has given these brewing troubles room to explode into crises.
  • rallying allies into coalitions that would ultimately share in managing peace and security. Which is where a sound strategy lies.
  • America’s allies will play that game, but only if they are sure we have a strategy and the staying power to see it through.
  • American grand strategy should identify these weak countries before they turn on themselves;
  • American policy today sees the world in fragments
  • So Mr. Obama’s big challenge is to help weak states reconcile, compromise and unite, and thus deny enemies a chance to start civil wars.
jamescmcguire

The Freedom of the Hijab - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • I realized that working for these causes while wearing the hijab can only contribute to breaking the misconception that Muslim women lack the strength, passion and power to strive for their own rights.
    • jamescmcguire
       
      She is working for rights to get rid of the law requiring hijabs but still supports the ideology that women must wear hijabs
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