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kthomsen2017

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

www.nytimes.com/...-to-us-fight-against-isis.html

ISIS

shared by kthomsen2017 on 14 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • 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
      kthomsen2017 on 14 Sep 14
       
      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.
gracegriffin

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

www.reuters.com/...risis-un-idUSKBN0H50OM20140910

politics syria crisis solution

shared by gracegriffin on 10 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • 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.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • 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.
ajwhitney

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

www.nytimes.com/...nst-isis-us-official-says.html

Middle East Racial and Ethnic Constructions Revolts and revolutions Belief Systems philosophies and ideologies Trade and Commerce

shared by ajwhitney on 14 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • 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.
  • ...17 more annotations...
  • 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
      ajwhitney on 15 Sep 14
       
      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
      ajwhitney on 15 Sep 14
       
      I did not realize they made THAT much money off of their oil!
  • trainers from other Western countries.
    • ajwhitney
      ajwhitney on 15 Sep 14
       
      Which countries besides the US?
mcmecke

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

www.npr.org/...-islamic-state-whats-in-a-name

state middle ISIS ISIL political International Midde East Social Cultural Levant Syria Islam Islamic

shared by mcmecke on 12 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • "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.)
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • 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."
  • mcmecke on 12 Sep 14
     
    Acronyms: ISIS or ISIL?
rkosmos2017

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

www.nytimes.com/...nst-isis-us-official-says.html

Middle East ISIS

shared by rkosmos2017 on 14 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • 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.”
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • 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.
johntraurig2017

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

www.nytimes.com/...eign-troops-fighting-isis.html

shared by johntraurig2017 on 10 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • 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
      johntraurig2017 on 10 Sep 14
       
      Only aerial attacks?
  • would not be American
    • johntraurig2017
      johntraurig2017 on 10 Sep 14
       
      This is good. How many ground forces would we need? 
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • 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
      johntraurig2017 on 10 Sep 14
       
      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
      johntraurig2017 on 10 Sep 14
       
      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
      johntraurig2017 on 10 Sep 14
       
      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
      johntraurig2017 on 10 Sep 14
       
      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
      johntraurig2017 on 10 Sep 14
       
      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
      johntraurig2017 on 10 Sep 14
       
      The videos are really clear and high definition...they want us to watch the videos and be scared. Propaganda.  
csmith2017

BBC News - Arab states back US push against Islamic state - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-29166372

shared by csmith2017 on 11 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • csmith2017 on 11 Sep 14
     
    Secretary of State John Kerry convinced 10 Arab countries to help in the fight against ISIS. They have promised to stop sending troops and supplies to ISIS and to contribute soldiers, weapons, and intel.
wmaley

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

www.nytimes.com/...rand-strategy-obama-needs.html

Russia and Ukraine Obama ISIS strategy solution sustainable conflict

shared by wmaley on 10 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • his effort this week to seem more muscular relies so much on a military solution that it risks a broader military entanglement.
    • wmaley
      wmaley on 10 Sep 14
       
      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
      wmaley on 10 Sep 14
       
      it was better in the long run to think ahead rather than solving the problem temporarily. 
  • American policy today sees the world in fragments
  • 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;
  • 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.
  • 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.
michaelmcconnell

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

www.nytimes.com/...nerics-for-poor-countries.html

shared by michaelmcconnell on 15 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • 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
      michaelmcconnell on 15 Sep 14
       
      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.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • 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.
gcolley2017

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

www.nytimes.com/...haines-british-aid-worker.html

shared by gcolley2017 on 15 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • a vital ally of the United States
    • gcolley2017
      gcolley2017 on 15 Sep 14
       
      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
      gcolley2017 on 15 Sep 14
       
      How many people do they have captured to victimize next?
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.
    • gcolley2017
      gcolley2017 on 15 Sep 14
       
      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
      gcolley2017 on 15 Sep 14
       
      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
      gcolley2017 on 15 Sep 14
       
      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
      gcolley2017 on 15 Sep 14
       
      Desperate times may call for desperate measures, ISIS may make Cameron regret saying this. 
  • two dozen foreigner
  • Nonviolent Peaceforce,
  • tortured
    • gcolley2017
      gcolley2017 on 15 Sep 14
       
      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.
mgt2011

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

www.nytimes.com/...s-united-states-coalition.html

Social Middle East ISIS interactions Political

shared by mgt2011 on 17 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • 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
      mgt2011 on 17 Sep 14
       
      How aware are we of how well their military can fight in that kind of war fare
  • something Mr. Obama has ruled out.
    • mgt2011
      mgt2011 on 17 Sep 14
       
      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
      mgt2011 on 17 Sep 14
       
      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
      mgt2011 on 17 Sep 14
       
      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
      mgt2011 on 17 Sep 14
       
      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
      mgt2011 on 17 Sep 14
       
      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
      mgt2011 on 17 Sep 14
       
      human shield
  • “To many of us that seems like an inadequate response,” he said.
    • mgt2011
      mgt2011 on 17 Sep 14
       
      are we doing enough? When is it too much? Is it ever too much? 
ianscox

White House seeks to win over skeptics on Islamic State fight | Reuters - 0 views

www.reuters.com/...congress-idUSKBN0H90SO20140914

Middle East Political Cultural The Americas

shared by ianscox on 15 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • White House seeks to win over skeptics on Islamic State fight
  • U.S. lawmakers have generally been supportive of the effort but Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, have accused Obama of not doing enough to deal with the problem sooner and have questioned whether the strategy goes far enough.
    • ianscox
      ianscox on 15 Sep 14
       
      Ugh, I doubt we will get anything done if we stay divided like this. 
chughes2017

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

www.nytimes.com/...gainst-isis-on-their-soil.html

Middle East Social nytimes com

shared by chughes2017 on 15 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • 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.
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • 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.
asmith2017

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

www.nytimes.com/...eign-troops-fighting-isis.html

Middle East

shared by asmith2017 on 10 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • asmith2017 on 10 Sep 14
     
    "United States"
allypeterka

The Iraq-ISIS Conflict in Maps, Photos and Video - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-in-maps-photos-and-video.html

shared by allypeterka on 10 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • 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
  • The United Nations estimates that militants with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have forced nearly 180,000 families — or more than a million people — from their homes in Iraq
ianscox

Kerry in Iraq backs government, says Baghdad a partner against Islamic State | Reuters - 0 views

www.reuters.com/...is-kerry-idUSKBN0H50MA20140910

shared by ianscox on 10 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • Kerry in Iraq backs government, says Baghdad a partner against Islamic State
    • ianscox
      ianscox on 10 Sep 14
       
      yis i luv digos
emoseley2017

ISIS Fight Raises Fears That Efforts to Curb Iran Will Slip - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-to-curb-iran-will-recede.html

Middle East interactions ISIS Iran

shared by emoseley2017 on 15 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • emoseley2017 on 15 Sep 14
     
    WASHINGTON - President Obama's decision to engage in a lengthy battle to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria reorders the global priorities of his final years in office. The mystery is whether it will deprive him of the legacy he had once hoped would define his second term, or enhance it instead.
ajwhitney

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

www.foxnews.com/...ompts-calls-for-us-involvement

shared by ajwhitney on 15 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • "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,"
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • "Saudi Arabia is continuing the religious cleansing that has always been its official policy,"
    • ajwhitney
      ajwhitney on 15 Sep 14
       
      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
      ajwhitney on 15 Sep 14
       
      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
      ajwhitney on 15 Sep 14
       
      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
      ajwhitney on 15 Sep 14
       
      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
      ajwhitney on 15 Sep 14
       
      I wonder if people would then get mad because the US isn't supposed to be Christian based or whatever.
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