“Daash” Army of the Mujahideen fighters arrested and clans in the vine

Arabspring:  Militants “Daash” in the city of Karma, east of Fallujah, arrested a large number of fighters the “Army of the Mujahideen” militants and tribal rebels in late Friday night.

As dawn militants “Daash” a number of houses belonging to the “Army of the Mujahideen” and tribal rebels.
The militants “Daash” Friendly detainees into the city of Fallujah, a stronghold of the group’s leaders, and flexed them in the streets of the city blindfolded, aboard three cars “bus” in addition to cars SUV loaded with armed elements.
It is noteworthy that the arrest of militants, “Army of the Mujahideen” and tribal rebels came against the backdrop of their refusal to swear allegiance to “Daash” and engaging in its ranks, prompting militants “Daash” to give them a deadline of the end of the pledge of allegiance was midnight Friday.

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Syrian Army Eliminate Daash-ISIL Terrorists in Idlib, Deir Ezzur ~ Iranian official: “Syrians are able to confront terrorists on their own

Army continues to crush positions of terrorist organizations, hemming them in and destroying their dens and equipment in various areas across the country.

Units of the armed forces  killed a number of terrorists and injured others after targeting their gatherings and dens and foiled an infiltration attempt in the countryside of the central province of Homs.

A military source told SANA reporter that army units killed many terrorists and wounded others in the areas of Um Sharshouh, al-Hilaliyeh farm, Tal Abu al-Sanasel, Ma’saret al-Aseileh, Ebb al-Ghajar and al-Rastan.

Other army units targeted gatherings and dens of terrorists between the village of Abu al-Alaya and Tal Jadid in the eastern countryside of the province and others in al-Tayiba al-Gharbiyeh village in al-Houla, killing a number of terrorists during the operations.

Among the killed terrorists was Saif al-Khatib, a terrorist group’s leader, in addition to Ismail Mustafa, Anwar Abdul-Karim Mustafa and Mohammad Bilal Shaaban.

Other army units destroyed dens of terrorists in al-Qarya al-Namozajjieh, Beir Kadim, east of al-Sikhna, Um Tweina and al-Rastan in the countryside, according to the source.

Another army unit foiled an attempt by terrorists to infiltrate from the village of al-Sultaniyeh into the village of Abu al-Alaya in the eastern countryside, leaving a number of them dead and others wounded.

An army unit dismantled an explosive device that weighs 100 kg of TNT in Ghweiran neighborhood in Hasaka city.

A source in the province said that terrorists planted the explosive device before they fled last month under the Syrian army’s blows.

Another army unit found a number of rifles including a machinegun and an amount of ammunition that were hidden in a cemetery in the area.

On Sept 16th, the army restored stability to the neighborhood of Ghweiran in Hasaka.

Army units carried out several operations against terrorist organizations, targeting their gatherings and equipment in various areas in the central province of Hama.

SANA reporter quoted a military source as saying that army units killed many terrorists and injured others in Kafar Zeita, Talaas, Skeik, al-Buweida and Qasr Bin Wardan in the countryside.

Other army units destroyed terrorists’ dens in Maar Kebbeh, Douma, Arafa, al-Zallaqiyat, Ebb al-Khazneh, Qanater, Qastal, Hamada Omar, Jana al-Albawi, Abu Hbeilat, Tabbaret al-Hamra and Mourek, with the source confirming that many of the terrorists were killed during the operations.

Meanwhile, an army unit destroyed an armored vehicle in al-Latamina in the countryside of Hama, leaving all terrorists aboard it dead.

A military source told SANA reporter that army units killed scores of terrorists, 11 of whom are of Libyan nationality, and destroyed four pick up cars equipped with heavy machine guns after targeting several of the terrorists’ gatherings and dens in Jabal al-Zawiya in Idleb countryside.

The source added that other army units destroyed dens of terrorists in al-Taman’a and Taftanaz, Khan al-Subul, al-Hamidiyia, Kafar Sajna, Ta’oum, Wadi Sakhri and Ma’aret al-Nu’man in the countryside.

Meanwhile, army units targeted gatherings of terrorists in Tal Salmou and Um Jerrin to the north of Abu al-Duhour in the countryside, leaving a number of terrorists dead and others wounded.

In Aleppo countryside, units of the armed forces destroyed dens of terrorists and a number of their vehicles in al-Mansoura, Kafar Hamra and Tal Rif’at, leaving all terrorists aboard them dead.

Army units destroyed a number of gatherings and dens of terrorists in various villages and towns in the northern countryside of the coastal province of Lattakia.

A military source told SANA that the army operations were concentrated in Arafeet, Rweiset al-Zyara, al-Mogheiriyeh, Kadin, Rweiset al-Qalaa, Msheirfeh, Jebb Qatto, Ketf al-Ghanneh, Oukko, Kabana, Ketf al-Ghadr, Tertyah, Dorin and Salma.

The source confirmed that many terrorists were killed and others were wounded in the operations, noting that the operations also resulted in the destruction of a number of vehicles which the terrorists were using

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Despite Turkish regime (and NATO allies attempt of genocide), Syrian Kurds of Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) stopped Daash/ISIL’s advance, restoring control in 2 areas

People of Ayn al-Arab in northern Syria halted the advance of ISIS terrorists towards the city, restoring two important sites which were under the control of terrorists.

Local sources in the city said that the protection units expelled ISIS terrorists from two important sites where they dominated last Friday.

Earlier, Battles between the locals of Ayn al-Arab city in northeast Aleppo and the terrorists of ISIS continued on Wednesday, with fierce battles taking place in several neighborhoods in the city to prevent ISIS from advancing.

Local sources said that violent clashes are taking place between ISIS terrorists and local civilian protection units who are holding ISIS back.

AFP said that the U.S.-led coalition carried out 8 airstrikes at dawn, targeting ISIS sites, but the agency didn’t mention anything about the results of these airstrikes or their efficacy in stopping ISIS’ advance.

Information indicates that the ISIS onslaught on Ain al-Arab is supported and facilitated by the Justice and Development Party government in Turkey, the same government which is preventing volunteers to enter the city to help defend it.

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Paul Sheldon Foote, American university professor: “Saudi Arabia, part of the USA coalition against Daash-ISIL, is the main supporter of Daash-ISIL”

Paul Sheldon Foote, an American university professor, says Saudi Arabia is the leading supporter of ISIL terrorist group, adding that the US and Israel have also provided the group with training and money.

“Large terrorist organizations need money and weapons. The leading supporters are the evil leaders of Saudi Arabia. America, Israel, and other countries have provided training, money, or other forms of support. Saudi Arabia and Western countries have provided some weapons. ISIL has been able to take weapons and money from the people of Syria and of Iraq because the local people are unable to defend themselves. If every family in the region owned weapons, ISIL would have found it much more difficult to succeed with only a few thousand terrorists,” Sheldon Foote said in an interview with Fars News Agency.

Paul Sheldon Foote is a professor at California State University, Fullerton. He is an author and commentator. He expresses opinions generally critical of Israel and its supporters in the US.

Foote is a critic of US neoconservatives and opposes war against Iran. Professor Foote has been an elected member of the Republican Party Central Committee in Los Angeles County from 1990 to 1992. In 1992, he was a conservative Republican candidate for the California State Assembly.

According to the biography published by opednews, he worked in Tehran at the American Embassy in 1970. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and studied Persian language at Harvard University. He has a Ph.D. from Michigan State University and a BBA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. At his university website, he has published the papers “More Dual Loyalties”, “Republican Useful Idiots”, “Israel’s Terrorist History”, and ” Overcoming September 11th Intelligence Deficits”.

What follows is the text of the interview:

Q: The ISIL which controls parts of Syria sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq in June and quickly seized large swaths of territory straddling the border between the two countries. The militants have terrorized the entire Iraqi communities, including Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and Ezadis, executing a large number of civilians and soldiers. What do you think are the major objectives of the ISIL?

A: The major objective is to create a caliphate (totalitarian rule) for the entire world. These monsters have chosen swamps ideal for their success. To achieve their goals, they need to find regions where large numbers of people are ignorant. ISIL has engaged in crucifixions of Christians, stoning to death of women, and of large numbers of executions and forced conversions to Islam. This is a battle for the soul of Islam. So far, ISIL is winning. It remains to be seen whether there are enough decent Muslims remaining who can destroy ISIL. If not, the Islam is dead.

Q: Many analysts believe that the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is the product of the US polices in the Middle East. What’s your take on that? Do you believe that the Zionist regime is funding the terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria?

A: Large terrorist organizations need money and weapons. The leading supporters are the evil leaders of Saudi Arabia. America, Israel, and other countries have provided training, money, or other forms of support. Saudi Arabia and Western countries have provided some weapons. ISIL has been able to take weapons and money from the people of Syria and of Iraq because the local people are unable or are unwilling to defend themselves. If every family in the region owned weapons, ISIL would have found it much more difficult to succeed with only a few thousand terrorists.

Q: According to the latest reports, ISIL may have up to 6,000 fighters in Iraq and 3,000-5,000 in Syria, including perhaps 3,000 foreigners; nearly a thousand are reported to have hailed from Chechnya, 500 or more from Britain and hundreds of others from France, the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. What does this mean to you?

A: Many political leaders are very short-sighted. They make moves calculated to benefit them in the short run.  President Obama’s decision to bomb ISIL in Iraq is evidence that even Zionists and Neo-Conservatives (Neo-Trotskyites) understand that these terrorists will return to Western countries. Some ISIL members have stated publicly that they will place America under their caliphate.

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Daash-ISIL mercenaries are selling Syrian-Iraqi kids and women, as well as people wounded or arrested (used for trade of human organs), to the Israeli mafia

“Sale of children and women to organize a financing Daash”, the British newspaper “The Times” revealed, but Arabic sites revealed what is more dangerous than that, where it said that Daash-ISIL jihadist mercenaries are selling children kidnaped from Iraq and Syria to Israel.

“Daash sells kidnaped children from Iraq and Syria to Israel,” Arabic sites revealed, adding that the organization’s crime of trafficking in human beings is in coordination with Israeli intermediaries, linked to the  international Jewish mafia, who buy babies and sell them to the families, specially inside Israel, who cannot have kids.

The sale of children is taking place in Syria, and after a local agreement with “moderate” terroristic elements, the organization that kidnaped the children deliver them from Syria to Turkey, where the kids are handed over to mediators of Tel Aviv, members of the Jews mafia in Israel.

This is one of the very lucrative business made by the terrorist gangs in Syria, according to sources, helped by an Israeli lawyer in Tel Aviv.

The British newspaper “The Times” revealed that the Daash-ISIL market of human trafficking is between the tel-Aviv/Jerusalem area and the Iraqi city of Mosul, where the selling of children and women represent a source of income and funding for its mercenaries.

According to the same newspaper, the last market-auction was held in the city of Raqqa, and not only in Mosul, and both the kidnaped sold, children and women, is from the Yazidi communities and others Christian minorities.

The British newspaper revealed also that the price of one-child can be up to ten thousand dollars, while the women are cheaply, to encourage the jihadist mercenaries to buy them and to fight sexually satisfied, choosing the most beautiful women for better price.

A Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations confirmed that more than 25 thousand women and children are imprisoned and sexually abused and sold as slaves to Daash-ISIL jihadist mercenary terrorists.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, besides this human trafficking, Daash-ISIL mercenaries are cooperating with Jewish-mafia elements involved in trade of human organs, selling them the bodies of the people wounded or arrested.

It is also reported that the large number of killings by the terrorist gangs in Syria have led to a decline in the price of the corpses from 20 thousand dollars to less than 10 thousand each.

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deprived of state regulation of Daash great victory

I was struck by what I heard from Iraqi President Fuad Masum. He said that US Vice President Joe Biden told him explicitly: «We can create problems for Iran, but we want to deal with it.» Infallible heard similar words of US Secretary of State John Kerry.

I ask about the current Iraqi scene where American planes flying over Iraq, while Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, plays a big role on the ground. In the words of Biden helps political journalist on the interpretation of the US position in Iraq as well as in Syria, especially as the meeting was held after months of View thundering to organize «Daash.»

To leave «tango» US – Iranian in Iraq. I was trying in my interviews and my meetings in Baghdad to know the men who have been denied «Daash» of «great victory identity.» At the conclusion of the visit, they discovered four.

The first is the Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. It was the fatwa «Jihad Ulkipa?a» issued by a critical role in ushering in a wide Shiite sectors to take up arms as long as the risk of «Daash» existed. No exaggeration to say that the militias played a prominent role in the deportation of risk «Daash» from Baghdad after the collapse of the Iraqi army in Mosul and other areas.

The other part of the role of al-Sistani represents the critical role played by the change in government. He was convinced that the battle can not be fought under the presidency of Nuri al-Maliki because of his ties disorder Sunni and Kurdish Balmkonin as well as the basic Western countries. And heard in Baghdad «Maliki shift was impossible not to Sistani’s position.»

The second man is Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region. «If managed Daash invasion of Kurdistan to connect to the border with Iran and inflamed the entire region and for any army to get it out of this rugged region.» Barzani deal with the issue as a battle of existence. Personally took command of the battle between the moving fronts. The first attack contained while the flow of arms and led the liberation areas «Kurdistan» operations income «Daash.»

Barzani telephoned from Baghdad asking about the situation. He said: «We follow our battle with these monsters retarded. What they had done beyond description, which is much larger than the world’s reputation. Sacrifices large and painful, but we will not hesitate to make any sacrifice. There is a clear decline in their morale and battle open. »

The third man is Qassem Soleimani, commander «Qods» a permanent visitor to Baghdad and visits to Old Kurdistan. Iran considered the views of «Daash» threat to national security flow of Iranian weapons immediately in the direction of Baghdad and Erbil and without research in the price somewhat confirmed for »life» Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Soleimani did not stop sending arms. Went beyond that. Appeared in the hot spots and hesitation that he was directing military operations as well as the role «in the treatment of allergies.»

Iranian weapons was not enough. It seemed that any Iranian interference ground or aerial ignite the region already wriggling to the sound of the Sunni conflict – Shia. Iraqis Astjar b »former occupier». Here enters the fourth man named Barack Obama Fuld «International Alliance». What was this alliance that generates not take the Arab and Islamic countries stand gives priority to save Iraq and the region from the clutches of «Daash.»

Four men have played a prominent role in the launch of the broad front against «Daash». But the battle is not limited to the military part as President infallible told »life». It needs a political solution. To genuine national reconciliation and genuine partnership in institutions and rebuilding the army and the security services and »to look at Iraq through the eyes of an Iraqi.» Before leaving the visitor feels that Abadi task «is not easy at all

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Will ISIS Create al-Sham Caliphate & Liberate Palestine

One need not be prescient to understand the unfolding “Jihadi Spring” is fueling the plans and perhaps destiny of ascendant Islamists in this region with the increasing help of in-country nationalists, including remnants of the Iraqi Baath Party. This, according to more than a dozen ardent supporters of The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), known locally as DAASH whose representatives allowed this observer over the past six months to interview some of its supporters to discuss what they found inaccurate in a piece I wrote about DAASH actions in Raqqa, Syria. In that article I claimed that DAASH was selling Syria’s archeological treasures, just as they are selling Syria’s oil and in some instances, food warehouse contents, to the highest foreign bidder. There is no paucity of the latter.

The final “S” in the acronym “ISIS” relates to the Arabic word “al-Sham” which itself is variously used to refer to the Levant, Syria or even Damascus. But DAASH  (ISIS) means the Levant or Eastern Mediterranean including Cyprus, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and southern Turkey. ISIS has just announced that Raqqa, the only one of 14 Governorates its controls in Syria, is now the “Capital” of their emerging “Caliphate” which so far is a swathe of territory encompassing much of eastern and northern Syria and western and northern Iraq. The Emir is to be their military strategist and leader and successor of Abu Mus‘ab Zarqawi, Dr. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Those interviewed at length include sympathizers, students of politics and of the Islamist ‘spring’ in Syria and Iraq, as well as a few shadowy claimed jihadist recruiters, some working with a claimed new specialized DAASH unit organized at the beginning of 2013 and which focuses exclusively on destroying the Zionist regime occupying Palestine. DAASH’s “Al Quds Unit” (AQU) is currently working to broaden its influence in more than 60 Palestinian camps and gatherings from Gaza, across Occupied Palestine, to Jordan, and Lebanon up to the north of Syria seeking to enlist support as it prepares to liberate Palestine.

DAASH believes, according to one of its claimed academic advisers, that the ummat al-Islamiyah (Islamic community), as a US Foreign Relations staffer, on 6/18/14 advised this observer, that the White House estimates that approximately six million Iraqi Sunni have recently become supportive of the armed action by DAASH. The support excludes its strict, indeed anti-social societal mores and abhorrence of current harsh realities of life in DAASH territory. The Islamist organization believes it currently has massive regional support for it rapidly expanding “revolution of the oppressed.” Large numbers in this region do appear to appreciate its recent successes, despite its history of calculated brutality for political purposes.  DAASH urges the public to study its remarkable history that reaches back to 2003 when Abu Mus‘ab Zarqawi got out of prison in Jordan and headed to Afghanistan, gained valuable experience from if the trust of Osama Bin Laden, and then crossed over to Iraq to wage jihad against America. DAASH appears to be using sectarian appeals in Iraq and Syria much the same way Zawqawi did when he confronted the ascendant Shia militia following the US invasion and occupation.

DAASH supporters claim that it has been joined by more than a dozen Sunni groups such as one called Men of the Army of the Naqshbandia Order.” JRTN as it is known locally, was established in 2007 following the execution of Saadam Hussein and is made up of former Hussein regime loyalists, including intelligence officers and soldiers from his Republican Guards. If its alliance with DAASH holds, JRTN can contribute thousands of fighters with strong social roots in the community. One JRTN interlocutor explained to this observer, “As Sunni Muslims, DAASH can resolve differences between its views of Islam and those of the Ummah. First we need victory and to achieve that we need each other and if our Baathist partners decide to position themselves to be secular guardians of Sunni Arab nationalism that can be discussed   later. The official website of the Naqshbandi Army includes a 1/1/2014 announcement: “To all our brothers and families of the tribes and factions we tell you, you are not along in this battlefield.” 

DAASH insists that it has become less active in killing anyone who works for the government of Syria or Iraq including rubbish collectors, a barbaric practice that alienated the Sunni population and that their support is growing as they increasingly provide the essential social services in the forming proto-Caliphate. “Zionists call us masked, sociopathic murderers but we are much more complicated and representative of those seeking justice than they portray us.  Are we more barbaric than the Zionist terrorists who massacred at Dier Yassin, Shatila twice at Qana, and committed dozens of other massacres?  History will judge us after we free Palestine.” A few years ago the CIA and others estimated that the Zionist occupation of Palestine will collapse in less than a decade.  DAASH claims it can do the job in 72 months.

With respect to events surrounding its takeover of Mosel and other social media broadcast exhibitions of mass brutality, ISIS claims it was done for a purpose, the same purpose that other state and non-state actors have used over the past two decade and that is for 90% of the world 1.5 billion Muslims (Sunni) to free themselves from the oppression of the 10% (Shia).

Several reasons were given as to why Palestinians should hold out hope for ISIS succeeding in their cause when all other Arab, Muslim, and Western claimed Resistance supporters have been abject failures and invariably end up benefiting the Zionist occupation regime terrorizing Palestine. “All countries in this region are playing the sectarian card just as they have long played the Palestinian card but the difference with ISIS is that we are serious about Palestine and they are not. Tel Aviv will fall as fast as Mosul when the time is right”, a DAASH ally explained.

When asked about Hezbollah’s 22 day war with the Zionists in South Lebanon in July of 2006 and its sacrifices in terms of lives which is to this day widely believed to be a victory for the “Resistance” and a blow to the Zionist occupation. An angry middle aged Iraqi Baathist, now a ISIS heavy weapons trainer, interrupted, “The difference between DAASH and Hezbollah is that we would have fought our way to Al Quds in 2006 and established a permanent organization. Hezbollah quit too soon and they will only fight if and when Iran tells them to.” He added, “What has the Hezbollah Resistance ever done for the Palestinians in Lebanon except resist their civil rights in Lebanon. Should Palestinians believe them?” Another gentleman insisted, “DAASH will fight where no one else is willing.” 

ISIS appears uniformly contemptuous of the Zionist regime and its army and also appears eager to fight them in the near future despite expectation that the regime will use nuclear weapons. “Do you think that we do not have access to nuclear devises? The Zionists know that we do and if we ever believe they are about to use theirs we will not hesitate.  After the Zionists are gone, Palestine will have to be decontaminated and rebuilt just like areas where there has been radiation released.”

DAASH supporters claim that it reaches out to local notables and tribal leaders and discuss their differences and seek their tribal counsel. DAASH claims that the Roman Catholic Vatican supports its own claims that when they captured Mosul last week they did not harm Christian residents or desecrate churches. In this they are supported by Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, the Apostolic Nuncio (Pope’s envoy) in Iraq who this week told the media: “The guerrillas who are in control of Mosul have to date not committed any violent act or damaged the churches there.”

It is becoming clear that DAASH has set up well organized local administrations in areas it controls, including an Islamic court system and a local non-hostile police force which support public safety with measures such as closing shops for selling poor products in the souks and supermarkets and on the street, destroying cigarettes and whipping some individuals for disrespecting and insulting their neighbors, confiscating counterfeit medicines in addition to some death sentences for apostasy.

DAASH supporters claim that as soon as they ‘liberate” and area  invest in public works such as the  new souk in Raqqa, installs new power lines and conducts training sessions on how citizens can do-it-yourself  for more self-reliance with fixing infrastructure problems. In addition DAASH claims that it quickly fixes potholes, runs a low fare bus system, has established  a ‘green’ program to build parks and plant trees and flowers, helps farmers with harvests and runs a zakat (almsgiving) organization.

Moreover, ISIS has established a number of religious schools for children, including ones for girls where they can memorize the Koran and receive certificates if successful, while also holding “fun days” for kids including all the ice cream they can eat and inflatable slides. For their older counterparts, ISIS has established training sessions for new imams and preachers. Schedules for prayers and Koran lessons are posted at mosques. In a more worrisome development, ISIS runs training camps for “cub scouts” and houses these recruits in the group’s facilities.

Several social media reports and a few eyewitness accounts appear to confirm that DAASH has developed health and welfare programs, operates bread factories and distributes free fruits and vegetables to needy families, passing the goods out personally as well as setting up a free food kitchen in Raqqa as well as an adoption agency to place orphans with families in their areas. Unlike the Taliban and some other regimes which exhibit paranoia about vaccination campaigns, DAASH claims to be more ‘modern” and actively promotes polio-vaccination in its areas to try stop its spread.

The social services that DAASH provides obviously do not ameliorate the deadly violence it carries out, but does suggest it is well-organized and has caught the interest of the Sunni Muslims who feel besieged by Shia. According to an al-Bagdadi relative, nearly the half a billion dollars that was snatched from Mosul’s central bank this month will help to win hearts and minds and correct some of its “bad press”. DAASH appears to ascribe to the cliché that half of any war is a rumor. It condemns the project of many satellite channels and claims that they do not objectively report the news but mainly spread rumors with sectarian instigation as the goal. On this point who can refute them?

DAASH supporters deny any interest in training and directing foreign fighters to attack Europe and other places, claiming that their goals are to establish an al-Sham Caliphate and liberate Palestine. With respect to exactly how DAASH intends to liberate Palestine, the Iraqi’s and now the Obama administration is in possession of an encyclopedia of information about detailed DAASH plans, and tactics it will confront the Zionist occupiers with,  according to a congressional staffer via email with this observer. Reportedly the employment of large numbers of militarily untrained foreign volunteers as suicide bombers, moving on foot wearing suicide vests, or driving vehicles packed with explosives is just the tip of a deep iceberg of what DAASH is planning. The trove from reportedly came from Iraqi intelligence sources that came upon it less than 48 hours before Mosul fell. Apparently a fellow known as “Abu Hajjar” a captured trusted DAASH messenger broke under Iraqi torture and turned over more than 160 computer flash sticks which contained the most detailed information to date about DAASH. The US intelligence community are still decrypting and analyzing the flash sticks.

Predictably, no sooner that this information reached the US Congress, than Congresswoman and Israeli agent, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen former Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and her partners at AIPAC went to work trying to get ahold copies of the flash sticks and share them with the Israeli Embassy and the Mossad. The current sense on Capitol Hill is reported to be that the Obama administration in not in the mood to share anything with Israel these days and certainly not with the Netanyahu regime which it loathes.

Time will reveal if DAASH achieves one or both of its objectives.  Many believe if they eject the Zionist regime from Palestine, the expanding Islamist group will set in motion historic currents that in all likelihood will be rather different from the Ehud Omert-Condeleeza Rice fantasy of “a New Middle East.”

In any event, it is unlikely that Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon, among other countries in this region, are going to look much like what George Bush and Dick Cheney and their still active neocon advisers had in mind when they were beating the drums for a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Libya,  and now Syria and Iran

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What Does DAASH Stand For

The life path number of DAASH is 6. People with the destiny number 6 are constantly seeking love. They are driven by a deep inner desire that infrequently leads them to shoot over the target. So it is not surprising that commitment comes hard to them. This compulsive search for love can be overcome only by dealing with their emotions and make their peace with the fact that they want to be loved as a person. Once this need is accepted number sixes no longer need to search for love outside themselves. People with the destiny number 6 are not afraid of confrontations with others who disagree with them, because they are blessed with the ability to differentiate and assess their opponent correctly. They are also surrounded most of the time by people who recognize in them a person who is filled with love. People with the destiny number 6 show their fellow men quickly their true nature and like to be without a facade of cool detachment and superiority. After initial uncertainty they usually succeed pretty good thanks to the love they radiate. The search for love. People who has the number six for a destiny number it is not always a reason to celebrate as it sometimes brings some difficulties. To understand the significance of this number you have to understand that people with a destiny number 6 in interpersonal relationships have the tendency to project some of their own personality on the other. They are aware about their faults or shortcomings and try to transfer them on to others. This kind of behavior can result in having a hard time with long term relationships. After a relatively short time the desire to continue the search for love and experience on the road to perfection overcomes them again. Destiny number 6 stands for perfection and that is also what they strive for. The name number six usually tends put a couple of presents on the way of it's owner. This means many people who are sixes tend to be very creative and might be related to creating music, visual arts or poetry. They usually love the spiritual and sensual pleasures of life. Being very personable and charming helps them pull their fellow men quickly under their spell. But in their essence they can also be a bit fickle and unpredictable, with the result that others do not always know where they stand.

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How to beat Islamic State Crack down on cigarette smuggling

France, according to KPMG research, is No 1 in Europe in the illicit cigarette trade, with 9bn counterfeit and contraband cigarettes imported in 2014, placing France far ahead of Germany and the UK in both actual and per-capita imports.’ Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

Friday 27 November 2015 13.53 GMT Last modified on Friday 27 November 2015 13.55 GMT

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As Europe gears up for a full-scale military response to the Paris attacks of 13 November, it is crucial to remember that Isis has an achilles heel that cannot be hurt with bombs: finance.

Isis is funded by a wide range of funding streams, from oil to diversified criminal activity to individual donations. Resolution 2199 of the UN security council, adopted in February 2015, identified at least a dozen types of crime that support the terrorist group, including not only oil sales but kidnapping, metals and antiquities trade, and human trafficking.

 I know Isis fighters. Western bombs falling on Raqqa will fill them with joy

Jürgen Todenh?fer

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To understand Islamic State budget flowcharts, it helps to distinguish between big-budget Isis in the Middle East and low-budget Isis in Europe. Isis in Iraq and Syria has significant expenses as it governs a territory with approximately 8 to 10 million people in addition to supporting a large standing military force and fomenting terrorism. As investigations of the most recent French attacks have shown, some of the attackers were recruited and trained by Isis in the Middle East, and their attack was probably conceived by Isis personnel in Iraq and Syria.

Big-budget Isis therefore bore the following expenses related to the November attack: recruitment, communications, training and planning. This recalls the financial analysis of the costs of the 9/11 attacks, where the larger expenses were born by al-Qaida central, and the hijackers and planners of 9/11 were responsible only for some of their own expenses.

However, Isis has a different funding model to al-Qaida, which transferred money to both the 9/11 attackers and the Bali bombers. The European-born executioners of the Paris attack will have needed local funding. Fortunately for them, the expenses of the attack were limited – a cost estimated at under €10,000 (£7,000). Costs included weapons purchases on the European black market, acquisition of materials to make explosives, car and safe-house rentals, phones, communications and short-distance travel.

It seems likely that the perpetrators funded their attacks through petty crime. Therefore, it is highly improbable that European investigators will find significant financial transfers from the Middle East that enabled the 2015 Paris attacks to be carried out, in the way transfers ahead of 9/11 were subsequently discovered.

The links between crime and terrorism are evident in the profiles of the European-born terrorists of 2014 and 2015

So how can governments cut off terrorists’ cash flows? Illicit markets and petty crime flourish in the poor neighbourhoods of Paris and Brussels. In Paris, several northern neighbourhoods close to where some of the November attacks occurred have large-scale markets where illicit products are sold, yet French police choose not to prioritise such small-scale crimes. Indicative of this is that France, according to recent KPMG research, is No 1 in Europe in the illicit cigarette trade, with 9bn counterfeit and contraband cigarettes imported in 2014, placing France far ahead of Germany and UK in both actual and per-capita imports.

One needs only to walk, as I did just prior to the Charlie Hebdo attacks, in the northern open air markets of Paris to see the massive trade in smuggled cigarettes and counterfeit goods, and the availability of stolen phones used to run this trade available in the multiple mobile phone shops lining the adjoining streets. Fake documents and drugs are less visible, but also frequently available.

In markets such as Barbès, the police are barely evident. Gendarmes will ask for the documents of a few random traders, but rarely seek to understand the networks benefiting from this trade. Strict laws exist in France on the documents needed to acquire mobile phones and sim cards. In this hub of illicit activity, almost nothing is done to counter the trade in stolen phones. Yet an abandoned mobile phone belonging to one of the terrorists provided crucial insights into their network.

The links between participation in crime and terrorism are evident in the profiles of the European-born terrorists of 2014 and 2015. A terrorist involved in the attack on Charlie Hebdo had traded in counterfeit trainers and cigarettes. Amedy Coulibaly, who slaughtered people at the kosher supermarket, had an extensive violent criminal record, and the thwarted attacker of the Thalys train was a long-term small-scale drug trafficker.

Analysis How French intelligence agencies failed before the Paris attacks

Authorities knew of at least three of the Paris attackers but did not act – and ignored a warning about a potential attack

 Read more

The Belgian Jewish museum attacker, Mehdi Nemmouche, had been imprisoned for robbery. The November attackers have similar criminal histories: Omar Ismael Mostefai, the first identified terrorist in Paris, had eight convictions for petty crime between 2004 and 2010; and the alleged mastermind of the plot, Abdelhamid Abaaoud had committed similar offences. With this capacity to fund themselves through crime, European terrorism presently is not entirely homegrown, but important elements appear to be locally funded. Therefore, curbing these funding sources is key to counter-terrorism.

Cutting off the funding of Isis in the Middle East may diminish the risk of terrorism in Europe, but that is not sufficient. To effectively counter terrorist financing we must prioritise the illicit markets and small criminal offences that are often overlooked by law enforcement but are the lifeblood of sponsored terrorism in Europe.

Italy has shown it can be done, having identified the criminal funding of terrorism three decades ago. But many continental European countries have yet to adopt the major operational and structural changes needed to address this hybrid threat.

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Tom Watson backs airstrikes against Isis, joining opposition to Corbyn

Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, has weighed in behind the shadow foreign secretary, Hilary 

Benn, in opposition to Jeremy Corbyn over airstrikes in Syria, arguing that the security threat of Isis needs to be dealt with by military action.

Watson said he agreed with the assessment of Benn, who has said it is “very important we play our part” in taking action against Isis.

Stressing that he, like Corbyn, had been elected by the party, Watson said: “The shadow cabinet had a long debate about how we can support the prime minister in his attempts to keep the country secure, and Hilary Benn gave a very clear explanation that he thinks there is an imminent security threat to the UK and I agree with him on this, but we will come to our decision on Monday with our colleagues over the weekend and we’ll inform you on Monday.”

Despite being at odds with their party leader, both Benn and Watson dismissed the idea that they would resign over the matter, arguing that it would not come to that.

At the same time, David Cameron has stepped up his efforts to win round Labour MPs to support military action, appealing to them directly to “do the right thing” and vote on the basis of the arguments.

It is understood that some shadow cabinet ministers are now seeking briefings with Whitehall security officials independently from the leadership, and Downing Street said it was “happy to provide” such sessions for anyone who wanted one.

Hilary Benn tells Corbyn: I'm doing my job in supporting Syria airstrikes

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Watson said the party had asked for clarification from No 10 about some aspects of the government’s proposals, including the idea that there are 70,000 ground troops available in Syria to secure territory currently held by Isis.

He said: “This is about deciding the best course of action to keep our country safe to deal with the security threat and to support our allies around the world who have a declaration from the United Nations that we need to deal with the Isis network.”

Some shadow cabinet ministers supportive of bombing Syria have suggested it could be possible to outvote Corbyn to form a collective position in favour of the government’s proposals. However, it is difficult to see how this could happen given that Corbyn has the power to sack rebellious members of his team.

Earlier, Benn said he was clear that the UK needed to take effective action against Isis, and every member of parliament needed to come to his or her own conclusion about whether that was right. “I’m not going to resign because I am doing my job as shadow foreign secretary,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Pressed again on BBC1’s Breakfast programme, Benn said: “I’m going to carry on doing my job as the shadow foreign secretary, which is to speak out about what I think the right thing to do is. I’m not planning to resign from anything. It may well be we end up in the position of having a free vote.”

Benn’s stance effectively challenges Corbyn to allow members of the shadow cabinet to vote with their conscience or remove him and other rebels from their posts.

At a difficult meeting on Thursday, about half the shadow cabinet – including Benn, Watson, Lucy Powell, the shadow education secretary, Lord Falconer, the shadow lord chancellor, and others – made clear they were minded to back the government’s case for extending airstrikes when it is put to a vote in the Commons next week.

Jon Trickett, the shadow communities secretary, Diane Abbott, shadow international development secretary, John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, Nia Griffith, the shadow Welsh secretary, and John Cryer, chair of the parliamentary party, are all against Cameron’s plan.

Others including the former leadership contenders Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham are understood to be undecided. A source close to Burnham, the shadow home secretary, said he was yet to be convinced but would be reflecting on the options over the weekend. Kate Green, the shadow women’s and equalities minister, released a statement saying she was consulting constituents and holding drop-in sessions to listen to the concerns of local people.

David Cameron starts task of persuading Labour MPs to back Syria airstrikes

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Over the weekend Labour MPs are expected to come under some pressure from their local members not to vote for bombing Syria. Corbyn himself has written to them saying: “I do not believe the prime minister’s current proposal for airstrikes in Syria will protect our security and therefore cannot support it.”

Shadow cabinet ministers agreed to sound out their constituents over the weekend before coming to a final decision on their positions. In a significant development, Momentum, the grassroots movement of Corbyn supporters, launched a web page to help its supporters lobby their MPs against bombing Syria.

From the other side, the prime minister is trying to add to pressure on Labour MPs to vote in favour of extending the bombing campaign. Speaking in Malta, where he is attending the Commonwealth heads of government meeting, Cameron said: “I believe there is a compelling case to take the effective action to keep our country safe.

“I thought many members of parliament on all sides of the House of Commons yesterday agreed there was a compelling case, so I would urge all of them to vote on the basis of the arguments for effective action on a compelling case to keep our country safe. Vote on those arguments and we can do the right thing.”

Dissent among other Labour MPs was beginning to emerge more openly on Friday, suggesting Corbyn could face a tough meeting of the parliamentary party on Monday evening. Two former ministers, Fiona Mactaggart and John Spellar, even suggested that Corbyn himself should step down.

Mactaggart, a former Home Office minister, who is likely to oppose airstrikes, told BBC Berkshire she thought it was a “sensible strategy” for Corbyn to resign, as the “division at the moment is causing real problems”.

 The Syria debate shows MPs have learned the lessons of war

Martin Kettle

Westminster has shown it is getting better at weighing up the cases for and against intervention

Martin Kettle  Read more

She said: “I think it probably is unsustainable. The problem is that my party doesn’t have the hunger for power that the Conservative party does. The Conservative party is good at getting rid of leaders that aren’t going to lead the party to victory. My party isn’t.”

Asked about speculation of resignations, John Spellar, another backbencher and former defence minister, said: “If anyone should resign over this it should be Jeremy Corbyn.”

The former defence minister disputed the interpretation of those who say the UN resolution was not clear authorisation for military action against Isis. Spellar said: “Momentum and the tiny Trots in their Corbyn bunker seem to think they know better than socialist France, radical Venezuela, the Russian regime and Obama’s Democrats as well as Britain’s Conservatives. It was not just the P5 who signed the UN resolution but the whole council.”

McDonnell struck a conciliatory tone on Twitter, saying: “On Syria, can everyone calm down. We’re all simply working through the issues & coming to a final decision. Don’t mistake democracy for division.”

Ken Livingstone, the former London mayor and an ally of Corbyn, said he thought there would have to be a free vote, adding: “You can’t force people to vote to kill other people or not to vote to kill them.”

Downing Street plans to table a vote in the Commons next week. In a sign that a Tory rebellion will be smaller than expected, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, Crispin Blunt, who rebelled in a vote on military action in August 2013, has signalled his support for the airstrikes. No 10 remains nervous about Labour’s position but believes that enough MPs will defy Corbyn to neutralise any remaining Tory rebellion.

Meanwhile, a senior Corbyn aide who suggested during May’s general election that people should vote for a Class War candidate has been let off with a warning by Labour’s ruling body.

Andrew Fisher faced calls for his expulsion from the party over the post on Twitter, in which he urged people not to support the Labour moderate Emily Benn in Croydon South. He has previously apologised and insisted he was “misinterpreted”, and Corbyn was said to have “full confidence” in him.

Fisher, who has since deleted his Twitter account, also reportedly posted messages attacking the former leader Ed Miliband’s front bench and welcoming the former shadow chancellor Ed Balls losing his seat.

A Labour party spokeswoman said the ruling national executive committee had completed its inquiry into Fisher, senior policy adviser to the leader. “Andrew Fisher has been issued with an NEC warning and his suspension has been lifted with immediate effect,” the spokeswoman said.

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Living and dealing with a new phenomenon known as Daash (a.k.a. ISIS)

• During May in the Kurdistan Region, people were concerned about the lack of salaries, electricity, soon-to-be-expected summer heat,  elections outcomes, disagreements between Baghdad and the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) and widespread disparities and corruption. People had heard of Daash (ISIS) and their so-called ‘barbaric’ acts elsewhere, but it was still too distant to be worrisome. The events of June and July, and what is now unfolding in Sinjar and Zumar, have awakened people and the KRG governing authority from a deep sleep. “Ema la gewy gada nustboyn” “We were sleeping in the ear of a bull,” explained a friend.

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• Not everyone was sleeping in the ear of a bull, though a growing number of nouveau riche from the ruling elite controlling the KRG were busy amassing their fortunes in what some of us refer to a “Neoliberal entity ” and what others have labeled “the other Iraq”.  We who have lived and worked in this small region called by its many names (Semi Autonomous State, Quasi State, Kurdistan Region, Northern Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, Southern Kurdistan or the other Iraq) have been trying to make heard a plethora of voices expressing their fears. There were and still are many unresolved issues, conflicts and disparities — within both Iraq and the KRG – that have been swept under the newly-purchased carpets covering up complex truths. For we who live in this region, everyday experiences present us with realities and discourses that are unlike those circulating in the media and proclaimed by the governing body. The KRG has often been described as a safe haven, unlike anywhere else in Iraq or the Middle East. A haven with a democratically working system, a ‘booming economy’ and an OK human rights record—as well as a trained Peshmerga force – and, let’s not forget, the ultimate place for foreign investment and friendly international relations.  This was the narrative before the Daash forays. What happened and how it happened is not the purpose of this piece, which instead considers the effects of this new phenomenon on everyday experiences and the ways in which people come to fear and speak of it.

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• One has to remember that Daash is not the only problem—although it happens to be the most significant at the moment—that people face today. Peoples’ everyday livelihoods in the KRG have been directly affected by: budget cuts from the Iraqi government (for which the KRG has failed to find an alternative), shortages of gasoline, corruption and widespread disparities, local party disagreements over territories, budget and leadership, and so on. These are just a few drops among the sea of problems people face in their everyday lives. Uncertainty and lack of trust of the governing Kurdish body, the Iraqi government and neighboring countries, and fear of losing what people have come to cherish (the Kurdistan Region) have always been peoples’ ultimate anxieties — since both Kurds and non-Kurds living in this region have faced countless nightmares in the past and have remained doubtful about the future.

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• The Blame Game

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• To begin from the beginning I would have to go back to the establishment of Daash (ISIS) and the different local, regional and international groups involved in assisting them, but I will leave this task to the experts. The internal and external factors for the establishment of Daash and the interest(s) of the different actors involved are clear—I have no intention of venturing into that messy subject. Similarly, the national (Iraqi) glitches, which have opened up the door for Daash, happen to be countless and too complex to be tackled in this piece. What I would like to briefly get my nose into is the fishy local situation in the KRG. The KRG government for the past two decades has neglected many existing problems in the local environment and created innumerable other challenges for people.

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• In the Kurdistan Region, the blame will ultimately fall on the two ruling parties, the KDP and the PUK, and to a lesser degree on the Change (Gorran) party and others in the government. These parties, along with their politically-biased media channels, print sources and social networks have had a direct effect on people’s emotions and actions—both in the past and today. Most people are terrified of the monster that is Daash and have been made to rely on the Peshmerga for everything. “We thank our Peshmerga brothers on the battling ground.” “I would not have any of this happiness if it was not for our sons on the frontlines.”  Many statements like this are broadcast on the different media channels daily. What we do not hear about though, are the problems the Peshmerga have been facing for decades. They are not so well prepared, nor are they able to face a force like Daash—one that the Iraqi army, with its better weapons and training, could not fight against.  Everyone argued that what happened to the Iraqi army in June would not happen to the Peshmerga. Those of us who know members of the Peshmerga forces as ordinary human beings, having faced the same difficulties and living under harsh circumstances in different regions in the Kurdistan Region, argued otherwise.

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• “We are so scared at all times that we have not been able to sleep for nights. They always tell us Daash will cut our heads off. They will have no mercy on any of us. I dare anyone, I mean anyone anywhere, who would not be sacred to death and who would not want to live instead of fighting and dying,”  – a conversation I had with a Peshmerga who was on a short leave with his family. Spending time with his two young children and his beautiful young wife who live in a hot and poor, distant village in the Garmiyan region, I could easily imagine wanting to run away, despite the hardships, to continue living. Who will remember him if he gets killed in the name of Kurdistan and what will happen to his wife and kids?  These are the harsh realities that most of us would rather not think about but instead criticize these men for abandoning their posts and failing to protect us (sitting in the comforts of our homes here or outside in the diaspora). What people fail to understand are the background stories of these Peshmerga men and their families and the lives they have been living under the KRG— lives of hardship, low salaries and neglect prior to the coming of Daash. Now, they are supposed to become supermen in the harsh summer heat, with little food and water, and forget their loved ones at home and fight and maybe get killed for the rest of us.

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• Despite all the aforementioned difficulties, these Peshmerga fighters listen to and watch frightening stories about Daash. Why do they scare all of us daily? There has always been some crisis, danger and what the local population come to recognize as “new scenario” to “make us busy”.   Fear of the ‘others’ has been the KRG’s most successful tool. Whenever people complain about corruption and disparities—they will say, “don’t make our enemies happy”. Whenever people protest for lack of basic necessities, such as current demonstrations about the lack of salaries (in the past seven months the Maliki government has stopped sending the 17% of the budget to the KRG and people receive delayed salaries month after month)—they have blamed the Baghdad government for the lack of money and blamed people for complaining. Now, they ask everyone to be united against Daash and ignore everything else.  They criticize people for being unpatriotic and selfish at a time when “their Peshmerga brothers are fighting a war.”  Meanwhile, people have to live their lives with yet heavier burdens. The ruling parties have been pushing people to blindly believe everything they say and, to a certain degree, they have been successful.

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• Living with ‘fear’ of Daash and its effects

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• Today, everyone you meet – from the smallest member of the family, to the oldest shop owner in the bazaar, to the mother who has seen everything she could possibly bear in one lifetime – speak of Daash and can’t hide their apprehensions. “Do I have to fight too? How? I don’t want to shoot anyone!” asked a puzzled six-year-old girl. Her mother assured her that she didn’t have to worry about Daash because they were “too far from us,” for now. “What kind of Muslims do these criminals call themselves? Who would kill, rape and destroy holy shrines like this? Wallah these people are not Muslims, I don’t think they are even human,” an older shopkeeper screamed on TV.  The elders claim that we have never faced such a dangerous enemy—one who has no mercy for people, places, faiths nor traditions. Daash here are often compared to Genghis Khan’s invading forces who, people argue, “also wiped out cultures and their histories.”

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• Today a scary sense of ethnicity and nationalism is also growing stronger in cities and towns across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. Fears of an enemy at our borders has made people more sensitive and without empathy. “Kick all Arabs out from this region.”,  “We have nothing to eat ourselves why should we accept so many refugees”, “They need to take them far away and put them in a camp”: some reactions to the ever-growing numbers of refugees coming from cities which Daash have taken over.  Although not all Kurds share these sentiments, they happen to be on the rise with the increasing number of displaced people from all backgrounds coming into the Kurdistan Region. If we recall the already difficult situation there, then the root of these attitudes can be unearthed.  Other people, who oppose these extreme views, fear these ideas could develop into a dangerous Kurdish nationalist discourse—one that would be similar to existing ethno-nationalistic discourses in the region of which Kurds and other minorities have been the victims.   “Have we forgotten that we once were refugees, escaping to other peoples’ places for protection? Have we forgotten that we also faced mass murder and ethnic cleansing?” Some would argue and have voiced their concerns in print and on TV.  The popular comic show on NRT Channel (Patriport) made an episode on a Kurd and Arab who were arguing about the current situation.  After a long period of argument and fictional calls from people going for and against the two men (two ethnic groups)—they ended the show with the two men hugging each other and arguing that Kurds and Arabs have always been living as members of one family, as brothers, and asked people to calm down and support one another. A welcome sign during such difficult times.

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• Dissent in times of uncertainty

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• As always, one finds dissenting voices within the population, and in the city of Sulaymani and surrounding areas these voices happen to be the loudest. “Why should so many of our sons and daughters be killed and for whom? What did we gain from 23 years of Kurdish rule?” Some argue like this, not denying the impact of the current threat, but also knowing that the two parties only send the children of the poor to the frontlines, while they themselves will later benefit from the ‘peace and prosperity’. Others argue that the KRG has failed in the past two decades to take care of the Peshmerga forces and has neglected any serious threat to the region— as they have also neglected the people, the environment and the local economy.  “They were too busy building malls and selling oil illegally to build more mansions and fill their bank accounts, instead of creating a national defense system.” After the events of this week and the takeover of Sinjar and Zumar and surrounding villages, more people are coming out and voicing their anger. In a recent conversation with a PKK guerrilla, I was told, “For the past two decades the two ruling parties here in the KRG have alienated us, killed and sold our members to the Turkish government for more fruitful business deals. They have not cared about the unity of Kurdish people and have neglected the wellbeing of the Kurdish population in the KRG. They have cared about creating a foreign market.”   In the past two days, we have seen the consequences of this misconduct. The Peshmerga fighters, either poorly trained, too angry and hungry to fight for rich elites in power, to afraid to fight, or for whatever unknown reasons, have abandoned the Kurdish areas of Sinjar and Zumar—leaving thousands of Yezidis to flee to the surrounding mountains, or to be tortured, kidnaped and killed.

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• And tomorrow?

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• Now the Yezidi cries for help in the mountains, lacking basic necessities, haunt us all. Their fate, as well as that of the others caught in the towns and villages under Daash control, along with their ancient shrines, shall be yet another reminder of the KRG’s shortcomings. Ordinary people from all over Kurdistan mourn the loss of their Yezidi brothers and sisters as well as others who had to deal with Daash in neighboring Mosul and other cities, towns and villages.  What went wrong? How could they(Peshmerga) abandon one of the most vulnerable groups, the Yezidis? What would happen to the rest of the Kurdistan Region if Daash were to advance further?  These are the questions on peoples’ minds.  Many people have put their hope in the PKK and YPG fighters who have come down to help the Peshmerga forces in an attempt to rescue the towns and their people. “No one can deny the power and vigilance of the PKK fighters and only they can help their Peshmerga brothers,” a journalist who has been working and writing about the fighters in the Qandil mountain explained.  We are all watching and waiting patiently and hoping for the best.

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• If you come to this region and you happen to look for the locals who have lived and experienced a life of uncertainty, and if you sit down and ask them what they think of the current situation, you will hear many different narratives. Nothing seems to be certain and nothing is crystal clear. The future of this small political entity, which you may call whatever you like, happens to be as uncertain as the daily living of its people. Criticism of the ruling Kurdish government (KRG), along with criticism of the Iraqi government and neighboring countries, has been increasing on a daily basis. This region’s history, both past and present, has made people ever more doubtful about the future. People on the ground have many complex stories to share and are not afraid to voice their anger—even at a time when an invading army is close at their doors.  Yet again, people from all ethnic and religious backgrounds in this region, among them the Kurds, are facing another threat and their livelihoods and existence are in jeopardy. Despite the severity of the situation, people are still hopeful that, by helping one another, Kurds and non-Kurds, Muslims and non-Muslims, rich and poor, can together overcome this threat instead of blaming one another, abandoning the “other” or alienating and “other-ing” others in a region already on the brink of division. We also hope that these current events will awaken the KRG from their sleep in the ear of the neo-bull who has been fattening up on everyone else’s behalf. Now he is in trouble and too fat to run to the mountains again. But is there still hope?

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Obama says no to alliance with Assad against Daash

Obama says no to alliance with Assad against Daash 

THE LEVANT EXCUSIVE- US President Barack Obama on Sunday rejected any alliance with Bashar Al Assad against Daash – also known as the Islamic State – arguing that the Syrian ruler was illegitimate and that any such pact would backfire.

“Assad has ruthlessly murdered hundreds of thousands of his citizens. As a consequence, he has completely lost legitimacy with the majority of the country,” Obama told reporters after a G20 summit in Brisbane.

“For us to then make common cause with him against ISIL (Islamic State) would only turn more Sunnis in Syria in the direction of supporting ISIL and would weaken our coalition (against IS),” he said.

US reports this week said the president had ordered a wholesale review of his administration’s Syria policy, with Assad still in power despite an armed uprising that is now in its fourth year.

The conflict has become many-sided as jihadists gain ground, notably the Islamic State group and the Al-Nusra Front, which is affiliated to Al-Qaeda.

Obama has built an international coalition against IS as it rampages across both Syria and Iraq. The coalition in September launched its first air strikes against the militants, using Syrian air space, and Obama is deploying up to 1,500 more US troops to Iraq.

The president denied that he intended to recalibrate his Syria policy, insisting that it was reviewed all the time to see what was working and what was not.

“Certainly no changes have taken place with respect to our attitude towards Assad,” he said in Brisbane.

“This is a fight against extremism of any stripe that are willing to behead innocent people or mow down political prisoners with a cruelty that we’ve very rarely seen in the modern age,” he added.

Obama said that communication with the Assad regime was limited to informing them that if the US uses Syrian air space in anti-IS operations “they would be well advised not to take us on”.

“But beyond that, there’s no expectation that we are going to in some ways enter an alliance with Assad,” the president said. “He is not credible in that country.”

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