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Do you think ISIS should be taken out?
Yes
89.45% (178 votes)
89.45% (178 votes)
No
10.55% (21 votes)
10.55% (21 votes)
Total Votes: 199
#191. Posted:
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Despite bombing, Islamic State is no weaker than a year ago
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So, myself and all of those people who have been saying this is exactly what would happen for the past year, and were just dismissed as 'hippies' and 'muslim loving liberals' have finally been vindicated.
After billions of dollars spent and more than 10,000 extremist fighters killed, the Islamic State group is fundamentally no weaker than it was when the U.S.-led bombing campaign began a year ago, American intelligence agencies have concluded.
U.S. military commanders on the ground aren't disputing the assessment, but they point to an upcoming effort to clear the important Sunni city of Ramadi, which fell to the militants in May, as a crucial milestone.
The battle for Ramadi, expected over the next few months, "promises to test the mettle" of Iraq's security forces, Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Killea, who is helping run the U.S.-led coalition effort in Iraq, told reporters at the Pentagon in a video briefing from the region.
The U.S.-led military campaign has put the Islamic State group on defense, Killea said, adding, "There is progress." Witnesses on the ground say the airstrikes and Kurdish ground actions are squeezing the militants in northern Syria, particularly in their self-proclaimed capital in Raqqa.
But U.S. intelligence agencies see the overall situation as a strategic stalemate: The Islamic State remains a well-funded extremist army able to replenish its ranks with foreign jihadis as quickly as the U.S. can eliminate them. Meanwhile, the group has expanded to other countries, including Libya, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Afghanistan.
The assessments by the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and others appear to contradict the optimistic line taken by the Obama administration's special envoy, retired Gen. John Allen, who told a forum in Aspen, Colorado, last week that "ISIS is losing" in Iraq and Syria. The intelligence was described by officials who would not be named because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
"We've seen no meaningful degradation in their numbers," a defense official said, citing intelligence estimates that put the group's total strength at between 20,000 and 30,000, the same estimate as last August, when the airstrikes began.
The Islamic State's staying power raises questions about the administration's approach to the threat that the group poses to the U.S. and its allies. Although officials do not believe it is planning complex attacks on the West from its territory, the group's call to Western Muslims to kill at home has become a serious problem, FBI Director James Comey and other officials say.
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So, myself and all of those people who have been saying this is exactly what would happen for the past year, and were just dismissed as 'hippies' and 'muslim loving liberals' have finally been vindicated.
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#192. Posted:
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Turkey Says Coalition to Launch 'Comprehensive Battle'
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Reuters wrote Turkey said on Wednesday a U.S.-led coalition will soon launch a "comprehensive battle" against Islamic State militants from Turkish air bases, but Syria said any military action not coordinated with Damascus would breach its sovereignty.
Ankara and Washington have been working on plans to provide air cover for a group of U.S.-trained Syrian rebels and jointly sweep Islamic State from a strip of territory stretching about 80 km (50 miles) along the Turkish frontier.
"As part of our agreement with the U.S. we have made progress regarding the opening up of our bases, particularly Incirlik," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told state broadcaster TRT, referring to a major air base near the southern city of Adana.
"We're seeing that manned and unmanned American planes are arriving and soon we will launch a comprehensive battle against Islamic State all together," he said during a trip to Malaysia.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem was quoted by state television on Wednesday as saying Syria supported efforts to combat Islamic State provided they were coordinated with Damascus.
"For us in Syria there is no moderate opposition and immoderate opposition. Whoever carries weapons against the state is a terrorist," he was quoted as saying during a visit to ally Iran, adding Damascus had been informed about the presence of the U.S.-trained rebels.
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#193. Posted:
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SELU wroteTwo more Brits have been killed in a drone attackThis topic will consist of a TIMELINE of events with the ongoing Islamic State Crisis in Syria and Iraq.
April 30 - Iraq holds its third national elections since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. The parliamentary elections are also the first such poll since the 2011 U.S. army withdrawal. No balloting was held in parts of Sunni-dominated Anbar province where security forces were fighting militants.
June 6 - A suicide bomber targets a group of pro-government, anti-militant Sunni militiamen, killing eight people including the prominent local leader Mohammed Khamis Abu Risha, the nephew of the influential tribal leader Ahmed Abu Risha. His brother had led the formation of the Sahwa an anti-al-Qaida militia allied with U.S. forces until his assassination in 2007. The Sahwa, also known as the Sons of Iraq, later disbanded.
June 10 - The al-Qaida breakaway group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, takes over Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul, followed by Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and smaller communities in the Sunni heartland as government forces melt away.
June 23 - Iraq-based powerful Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, calls on Iraqis to join the security forces to fight Sunni extremist fighters.
June 29 - The group declares the establishment of an Islamic state, or caliphate, in territories it controls in Iraq and Syria and demands allegiance from Muslims worldwide. It declares the group's chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the leader of the new caliphate. The group renames itself the Islamic State.
July 1 - The United Nations announces June the deadliest month in Iraq since at least April 2005 with more than 2,400 Iraqis killed.
July 5 - A man purporting to be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi makes his first public appearance, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Mosul.
Aug. 7 - The Islamic State militant seize the strategic Mosul Dam, pushing Kurdish peshmerga forces from a number of towns and forcing hundreds of thousands of minority Yazidis to flee.
Aug. 8 - The U.S. begins targeting fighters from the Islamic State with airstrikes.
Aug. 18 - Boosted by U.S. airstrikes, Iraqi and Kurdish forces say they wrest back control of the Mosul Dam as fighting was reported to be underway for the rest of the strategic complex. The Islamic State group denied the claim, insisting it was still in control of the facility.
Aug. 19 - James Foley (American) beheaded in a video posted online.
Sept. 2 - ISIS released a video showing the beheading of American Steven Sotloff
Sept 11 - An account linked to the extremist group known as ISIS, or ISIL, has been suspended after it called for attacks against Twitter employees in the United States, Mashable reported Wednesday. Specifically, an account entitled @Dawlamoon said it has come time for attacks.
The time has arrived to respond to Twitters management by directly attacking their employees and physically assassinating them, read one of the tweets read.
Following tweets said attacks would be carried out by sleeper cells of death and warned employees of Twitter in the San Francisco area should watch over himself because there may be an assassin waiting. ( [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] Contributed by: Liability)
Sept 13 - Video of (British) David Haines beheading shows up online.
Sept. 19 - Anti-terror operation in Sydney and Brisbane 'thwarted' beheading plot
Police say a large-scale anti-terrorism raid in Sydney this morning has foiled a plot to "commit violent acts" in Australia, including a plan to behead a member of the public.
More than 800 officers launched the raids as part of Operation Appleby in suburbs across Sydney's west and north-west, with a further 70 police involved in raids on properties in Brisbane's south.
Police said 15 people had been detained in Sydney as part of the operation between NSW officers, the Australian Federal Police and ASIO.
Court documents are expected to reveal that the raids, at 25 different properties, were aimed at a cell which planned to behead a member of the public in Sydney.
The documents are expected to say that the plan involved snatching a random member of the public in Sydney, draping them in an Islamic State group (IS) flag and beheading them on camera. ( [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] Contributed by: Cygnet)
Sept 20 - [France Joins the Attack on ISIS]"This morning at 9:40, our Rafale planes carried out a first strike against a logistics depot of the terrorist organization Daesh [the Arabic acronym for Islamic State] in north-east Iraq. The objective was hit and completely destroyed," President Francois Hollande's office said in a statement. ( [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] Contributed by: Miss)
Sept 23 - The United States, joined by five Arab allies, launched an intense campaign of airstrikes, bombings and cruise-missile attacks against the Islamic State and another militant group in Syria Monday night marking the first U.S. military intervention in Syria since the start of that countrys civil war in 2011.
"Other operations will follow in the coming days," the statement added.
Sept 26 - LONDON Three European nations including Britain joined the widening U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq on Friday, even as the groups fighters renewed their attempt to overrun a strategic border city in Syria. [ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
Sept 29 - Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front has issued a new threatening audio message featuring its leader warning the West will pay the heaviest price for its actions. The Syrian group is reportedly now joining up with the estranged Islamic State militants.
The leader of Syrias most prominent terrorist group, Abu Mohamad al-Golani, in denouncing the US-led air strike campaign, has urged Westerners everywhere to do the same by standing against the decisions of your rulers, otherwise bloodshed would be brought to their soil.
"Muslims will not watch while their sons are bombed. Your leaders will not be the only ones who would pay the price of the war. You will pay the heaviest price," Reuters cited him as saying. He threatened viewers that the fight would be brought to the hearts of your homes. ( [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] Contributed by: Miss)
Oct 3 - A new video has surfaced showing Islamic State militants allegedly beheading UK aid worker Alan Henning, the Associated Press reports.
According to AP, the footage shows an Islamic State (ISIS / ISIL) militant murdering Henning before threatening to also kill American Peter Edward Kassig.( [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] Contributed by: Miss)
Additional Information
-Between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters across Iraq and Syria
-The executioner in all three murders are appeared to be by the same person.
-ISIS is Led by a Man Released from a U.S. Detention Camp in 2009
-ISIS is the Richest Terror Organization in the World
-In Addition to Beheadings, ISIS Has Carried Out Mass Executions and Rapes
-ISIS Now Controls 35,000 Square Miles in Iraq and Syria
-Weaponry that the US is using to fight the Islamic State:
First off, I know this isn't really 'news', but I thought maybe some of you would be interested in knowing what the US and it's allies use to bomb them.
The Syrian bombing campaign was the combat debut of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. The stealth fighter had a rough road to being actually used in combat, running over-budget and plagued by glitches. The Pentagon declared it combat-ready a decade ago.
The US Navy fired 47 Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missiles at targets in Syria. The number may sound relatively small, considering an estimated stockpile of 4,000 such missiles the US has. But its much more impressive if you bear in mind that the Navy plans to buy only 100 in 2015 and none thereafter due to budget cuts.
An expected ensemble of other US combat aircraft, such as F-15 Strike Eagles, F-16s, B-1 bombers, is participating in the sorties.
Along with Predator and Reaper drones, armed with Hellfire missiles.
Credits to Miss for Weaponry.
If you would like to contribute to this post, send me a PM with the article and source or post it in the comment section.
Sources: [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] | [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] | Credits to XBLSE_Coder_V1 for the poll question.
Casca Edit:
Make a Sticky on 17 SEP 2014
All other topics will now be closed
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#194. Posted:
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Russia Launches Air Strikes In Syria
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Reuters wrote Russia said it launched air strikes against Islamic State in Syria on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin secured his parliament's unanimous backing to intervene to prop up the Kremlin's closest Middle East ally.
Targets in the Homs area appeared to have been struck, but not areas held by Islamic State, the U.S. official said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said however that its attacks were directed at Islamic State military targets.
Putin said the only way to fight "terrorists" in Syria was to act preemptively. Russia's military involvement in the Middle East would only involve its air force and would be temporary.
"The military aim of our operations will be exclusively to provide air support to Syrian government forces in their struggle against ISIS (Islamic State)," Sergei Ivanov, the Kremlin's Chief-of-Staff, said before reports that the strikes had begun.
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#195. Posted:
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I hope Russia takes out ISIS.
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#196. Posted:
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Yeah we need to stop these ISIS people very soon or its gonna get too far and ww3 will start and world will end
#StupidIdiotsMan
#StupidIdiotsMan
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#197. Posted:
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WW3 won't start. Stop worrying.
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#198. Posted:
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US TO SEND SPECIAL FORCES INTO SYRIA
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The US is sending special forces to Syria to assist anti-government rebels in fighting the so-called Islamic State (IS), officials have said.
There will be "fewer than 50" forces deployed in the region, in what will be the first time US troops are working openly on the ground in Syria.
There have been US special forces raids on IS militants in the country.
A senior administration official told the BBC this does not signal a change in US strategy in Syria.
The special operations forces will be focused on Northern Syria, the official said.
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#199. Posted:
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BigRedMachine wrote US TO SEND SPECIAL FORCES INTO SYRIA
The US is sending special forces to Syria to assist anti-government rebels in fighting the so-called Islamic State (IS), officials have said.
There will be "fewer than 50" forces deployed in the region, in what will be the first time US troops are working openly on the ground in Syria.
There have been US special forces raids on IS militants in the country.
A senior administration official told the BBC this does not signal a change in US strategy in Syria.
The special operations forces will be focused on Northern Syria, the official said.
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How brilliant.
Wasn't it about a year ago when Obama said in a news conference that he was never going to put boots on the ground?
Paraphrasing: 'I get messages from people who tell me that putting boots on the ground in Syria will simply cause another war. To that I say that I will never put boots on the ground in Syria.'
Bruh.
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#200. Posted:
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Russia says its warplanes have bombed Islamic State (IS) positions around the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.
A fortification, an underground bunker and anti-aircraft guns were destroyed in strikes by Su-25 jets, according to a defence ministry statement.
Activists said the air strikes targeted the area around a reconstructed 13th Century castle perched on a hilltop to the west of Palmyra's Roman-era ruins.
The activists added it was difficult to assess the extent of the damage.
IS militants have destroyed two 2,000-year-old temples, an arch and funerary towers since driving Syrian government troops out of Palmyra in May.
The jihadist group believes that such structures are idolatrous. The UN cultural agency, Unesco, has condemned the destruction as a war crime.
Source: [ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
A fortification, an underground bunker and anti-aircraft guns were destroyed in strikes by Su-25 jets, according to a defence ministry statement.
Activists said the air strikes targeted the area around a reconstructed 13th Century castle perched on a hilltop to the west of Palmyra's Roman-era ruins.
The activists added it was difficult to assess the extent of the damage.
IS militants have destroyed two 2,000-year-old temples, an arch and funerary towers since driving Syrian government troops out of Palmyra in May.
The jihadist group believes that such structures are idolatrous. The UN cultural agency, Unesco, has condemned the destruction as a war crime.
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