A remote camera shows a Rafale jet fighter, partially seen at right, and a pilot fly over Iraq Friday.
PARIS — Joining U.S. forces acting in Iraqi skies, France conducted
its first airstrikes Friday against the militant Islamic State group,
destroying a logistics depot, Iraqi and French officials said.
Rafale fighter jets accompanied by support planes struck in northern
Iraq on Friday morning and the target was “entirely destroyed,”
President Francois Hollande said.
The four airstrikes on an Iraqi military installation overrun by the
militants hit a munitions and fuel depot, a French military official
said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details.
The Islamic State's vision for the future as illustrated by their own press release.
By: The National Bacon
While their reach may not yet meet the reality of their goals, the IS is certainly planning for a future that is striking in it's massive scope. Many have asked if the IS would be a serious direct threat to the Western world, which of course is highly debatable. However, in a globalized economic world even a significant regional change can produce significant effects across the globe.
The regions the IS is looking to conquer not only contain valuable oil and gas resources, but also other materials, agricultural products, and significant cultural sites. In terms of globally significant cultural areas, the IS has already pillaged their way through many areas of Syria and Iraq and destroyed archaeological sites.
It could also be argued that Europe faces the greatest direct threat from the IS, because of their relatively geographic location to the Middle East and North Africa and the fairly significant the IS is currently enjoying from elements of the populations of Western European nations.
Unfortunately we are faced with two grim scenerios; the IS as a destablizing regional problem or the IS as a rising global empire. Either propostion deserves serious thought and serious action.
TORONTO - Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau confused holding a passport
with citizenship - but doesn't think the government should be able to
take away either from Canadians suspected of being involved in
terrorism.
The issue of homegrown terrorists has been in the spotlight since the
onslaught of terror group Islamic State (ISIS), which claims to have
established a caliphate - or Islamic state - in parts of Syria and Iraq
and which has had alarming success in recruiting Western youth to fight
for its cause.
Speaking with reporters Saturday at the Liberal Party of Ontario's
annual general meeting in Markham, Trudeau said he believes the Canadian
justice system is currently well enough equipped to handle homegrown
terrorism.
Legislation passed in June allows the federal government to strip
citizenship from dual citizens who are convicted of terrorism at home or
abroad.
Trudeau and his Liberals opposed the legislation. He has often
expressed his concern the bill creates a "two-tiered" system of
citizenship.
Asked for his thoughts on revoking or denying passports to would-be
terrorists, Trudeau appeared to conflate citizenship with having a
passport, but ultimately said he believes the Criminal Code is the best
tool to fight terrorism.
"I think that a lot of Canadians, including very conservative
Canadians, should be worried about the state willing to, and taking the
power to, arbitrarily remove citizenship from people," he said. "That's a slippery slope that I don't thin...(Click for more)
The change is all the more remarkable because the earlier policy did
not threaten the profitability of the country's biggest businesses,
while the resurrected policy appears to be aimed at its biggest trading
partner, China.
Although the specifics are
classified, there is now backing across the political spectrum for
preparations for the forward deployment of ground troops, ships and
planes equipped for high-intensity warfare. Key components include large
destroyers equipped to contribute to an anti-ballistic missile shield
against China and North Korea; frigates that could help enforce a trade
blockade; and big new submarines capable of firing cruise missiles into
China. This may suit countries near China, but it represents a huge
change for a more distant Australia.
The switch
began five years ago with the insistence by then-Labor Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd that the defense White Paper should ditch the established
doctrine defining the Australian military's area of operational interest
as rarely extending beyond the archipelagic chain of Indonesian and
Melanesian islands to its near north. Prime Minister Tony Abbott now enthusiastically promotes the new...(Click for more)
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is cautioning against sending Canadian
jet fighters to join U.S. air strikes against the Islamic State.
Trudeau questions value of combat role for Canada
U.S. President Barack Obama announced the air strikes against militants in Syria and Iraq in an address Wednesday night.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is cautioning against sending Canadian
jet fighters to join U.S. air strikes against the Islamic State.
While
Mr. Trudeau didn’t completely rule out supporting such a move
eventually, he said Canadians aren’t enthusiastic about taking on such a
“combat” role.
The Islamic State has Become Much More Than a
Regional Problem as Their Membership is Partially Swelled By Global Recruitment
(Including the West).
By: The National Bacon The recent rise of the Islamic State (IS) and their so far
highly successful campaign in the Middle East has captured media headlines throughout
the Western world, often eclipsing even the conflict in the Ukraine. So far many media outlets, pundits, and
other individuals have found the dilemma of the IS both horrifying and
perplexing. One of the most mystifying
aspects has been the willingness of many citizens of Western nations to volunteer to fight for the Islamic State’s jihad; a factor that has left some
questioning why anyone would give up what are in many cases relatively
comfortable lives to join a group that has become synonymous with wanton violence
and sadism.
Despite the uncomfortable numbers of Westerners supporting
or involved in the IS, a significant portion of the discussion of what it all
means fails to capture the issue; the Islamic State has gone global and the
West is still trying to figure out what it all means.
Some have chosen to write off the IS as a group of
unsophisticated, cave dwelling savages, who are of little threat and will soon
fade away. This could not be further
from the truth, as the group has show itself to be strategically and tactically
sophisticated as well as capable of running advanced information operations
with global reach. The IS has also
mastered the use of social media in order to recruit and spread their
ideological concepts.
Others in the West have tried to argue that the Islamic
State is indeed not Islamic at all, which of course ignores several realities
in favour of political correctness. The
IS have applied a draconian view of Islam that though it may not be supported
by the entirety of the global Muslim population, they are none the less heavily
influenced by Islamic ideas.
The rising numbers of Westerners, both of Islamic
cultural origins and recent converts of European backgrounds, have created a
crisis of ideas. Many find it difficult
to fathom why their fellow citizens would fight for and support the actions of
brutality and barbarity perpetrated by the Islamic State. Unfortunately there are no easy answers to
this. One thing is for certain however,
the problem of the IS is transnational and not limited to the Middle East; Jihad
has gone global.
A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter moves into
position while firing into Baretle village (background), which is
controlled by the Islamic State, in Khazir, on the edge of Mosul
September 8, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah
(Reuters) - A
small group of people pick through putrefying human remains laid out on
plastic sheets by the side of a road in northern Iraq, searching for any
trace of missing friends and relatives.
Some had brought
spades to help dig up the mass grave near Suleiman Beg after the town
was retaken from Sunni Islamic State militants who held the area until
last week.
"They (Islamic
State) slaughtered him simply because he was Shi'ite," said Jomaa
Jabratollah, hauling the remnants of his friend, a truck driver, into a
coffin, having identified him from the lighter in his breast pocket. "We
must take revenge".
Helped by the United States and Iran,
Kurdish forces and Shi’ite militia are finally beating back Islamic
State militants who overran most Sunni Arab areas in northern and
central Iraq nearly three months ago.
But the aftermath illustrates the unintended consequences of the U.S. air campaign against Islamic State.
Kurdish
and Shi'ite fighters have regained ground, but Sunni Muslims who fled
the violence are being prevented from returning home and some have had
their houses pillaged and torched.
Rather
than help keep the nation together, the air strikes risk being used by
different factions for their own advantage in Iraq's sectarian and
ethnic conflicts. The
fallout also risks worsening grievances that helped Islamic State find
support amongst Iraq's Sunnis, and allows the militant...(Click for more)
The
HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were carrying British Arctic explorer Sir
John Franklin and 128 hand-picked officers when they vanished in the
late 1840s - perhaps after they were abandoned when they became locked
in ice
On
Sunday, Parks Canada used a remote underwater vehicle to find a
wreckage in the Victoria Strait near King William Island, Nunavut - but
officials do not yet know which ship it is
Canada announced it would start searching for the wreckages in 2008 in a bid to assert its sovereignty over the Northwest Passage - the same passage the ships had been trying to find
One of two
British explorer ships that vanished in the Arctic more 160 years ago
has been found, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on
Tuesday.
The
HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, which were led by British Arctic explorer
Sir John Franklin and were carrying 128 hand-picked officers, were last
seen in the late 1840s as they searched for the fabled Northwest
Passage.
In
2008, Canada announced it would search for the ships in a bid to assert
its sovereignty over the passage, which was found during searches for
the missing ships.
Sailors look at a model of a submarine which
is scheduled for delivery to Vietnam in 2013, in Vietnam's northern
port city of Hai Phong, in this October 21, 2011 file picture.
Credit: Reuters/Kham/Files
(Reuters) - Vietnam will soon have a credible naval deterrent to China in the South China Sea in the form of Kilo-class submarines from Russia, which experts say could make Beijing think twice before pushing its much smaller neighbour around in disputed waters.
A master of guerrilla
warfare, Vietnam has taken possession of two of the state-of-the-art
submarines and will get a third in November under a $2.6 billion deal
agreed with Moscow in 2009. A final three are scheduled to be delivered
within two years.
While communist parties rule both Vietnam and China and annual trade
has risen to $50 billion, Hanoi has long been wary of China, especially
over Beijing's claims to most of the potentially energy-rich South
China Sea. Beijing's placement of an oil rig in waters claimed by
Vietnam earlier this year infuriated Hanoi but the coastguard vessels it
dispatched to the platform were always chased off by larger Chinese
boats.
Scotland Yard estimates that at least 500 Britons have joined Islamic State.
On Monday last week British Prime Minister David Cameron
proposed legislation to prevent citizens who joined the Islamic
State and other terrorist groups from re-entering Britain to "wreak
havoc." His proposal followed the Aug. 19 release of a video showing a
jihadist who spoke with a British accent appearing to behead American
journalist
James Foley.
One day after Mr. Cameron's announcement, the Islamic State
posted a video showing the murder of American journalist
Steven Sotloff,
ostensibly by the same Briton.
The
jihadist's nationality shocked Britain and the world. It shouldn't
have. Scotland Yard estimates that at least 500 Britons have traveled to
the Middle East to join the Islamic State. British-born terrorists have
been the most numerous, violent and influential of European jihadists
since well before 9/11. Why Britain? The
reasons include the nation's tradition as a sanctuary for dissidents; a
defendant-friendly judiciary; a law-enforcement system with few Muslim
informants; a profligate version of multiculturalism; and the misfortune
of having Pakistan as the main source of Muslim immigrants.
Canadian Special Operations Forces (SOF) will be heading to Iraq to provide advisory training and assistance to forces engage in the battle against the Islamic State (IS). This kind of action is exactly what SOF is meant to do; have a force multiplication effect where a few highly trained operators have a larger strategic impact on the battle zone. According to a press release from the Prime Ministers office these Canadians will be stationed in Iraq's north.
Canadian Special Forces have earned a strong reputation for professionalism and effectiveness; there is no doubt that they will continue to bring honour to the Canadian Armed Forces through their commitment to forwarding Canadian and allied interests abroad.
Harper announces deployment of 'several dozen' military advisers for 'up to 30 days' to help Kurds
Candidates for the Canadian Special Operations Regiment
train in Kamloops, B.C., in 2006. CSOR members are among the advisers
Canada is sending to Iraq to assist in the fight against ISIS. (Lt(N)
Meghan Marsaw/Combat Camera)
Canada's next contribution to the fight against ISIS in Iraq will be
"several dozen" members of the Armed Forces, Prime Minister Stephen
Harper announced today — and CBC News has learned that includes special
operations forces.
The contingent of special operations forces will work closely with
U.S. forces but remain under full command of Canada's Chief of Defence
Staff. The forces will come from the Special Operations Regiment. No
specifics were available on what type of work they'd be doing, but
Harper has said the Canadian Forces deployed to Iraq won't be involved
in combat.
A spokesman for Harper described the broader Canadian mission as one
that provides "strategic and tactical counsel to Iraqi forces before
they start tactical operations" against the Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria, also called ISIL.
The number of times that the F-16s have been activated to patrol Danish airspace has doubled since 2012 (Photo: Forsvaret.dk)
The
Danish ministry of defence is increasingly deploying its F-16 fighter
jets to meet Russian military aircraft flying near, or even inside,
Danish airspace, according to a report obtained by Berlingske newspaper
from the Danish Defence Command, Forsvarskommandoen.
The report showed that the number of times that the F-16s have been
activated to patrol Danish airspace has doubled from 21 in 2012 to 42 in
2013. And during the first eight months of 2014 that trend has
continued with 38 deployments, the vast majority being due to approaching Russian aircraft. “The news is yet another sign of shifting Russian foreign policy,”
Johannes Nordby, a captain with the Defence Academy, told Berlingske.
“The shift can lead to effects similar to those from the Cold War.”
While the tragedy of human suffering at the hands of the
Islamic State is well know, their destruction of Iraq and Syria’s cultural
heritage remains on the fringes.
By: The National Bacon
A remarkably well-preserved Roman Parade Shield found at Dura-Europos
The news of the past weeks has painted us an all too
powerful picture of the violence and destruction brought to the Middle East by
the rising tides of fortune for the Islamic State (IS).There seems to be little stopping this
latest incarnation of radical Islam from growing stronger and defying nearly
every tenant of international law and human decency laid down through the hard
work of so many diplomats, soldiers, and humanitarians in the decades since the
end of the Second World War.
We hear of
the slaughter of the Yazidi, Shiite, and Christian minorities at the hands of
the IS, however the slaughter of culture by the IS has another face.The rich archaeological heritage of Syria
and Iraq is being violated at a alarming pace; much of it being sold to finance
the strategic goals of the IS and further their campaign of conquest. Syria and Iraq are part of what is referred to as the Fertile Crescent; an area that is known as the cradle of civilization.This region produced some of the earliest
phonetic writing, codified laws, and the some of the earliest large cities to
name only a few features of early-civilized life.The archaeological heritage of Syria and Iraq span 10,000 years
of human history and include Babalyonian, Greek, Roman, early Islamic, and Medieval
sites.In a recent article produced by National Geographic the extent of the destruction is described for sites such
as Dura-Europos, a archaeological site that has produced artefacts priceless to
the record of human history.Now the
site has been reduced to a moonscape by looters who will sell their ill-gotten
gains on the antiquities black market.
It is a sad state of affairs for the heritage of the region
to say the least; when a nations cultural heritage is destroyed it not only
murders its past, it murders its future.
Add Umm Layth AKA Aqsa Mahmood, a young
Scottish Muslim woman who abandoned a comfortable middle-class
background to join the Islamic State in Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) in
Syria. caption
Aqsa Mahmood, the privately educated Scottish woman described by
friends as clever and gifted, went missing from her tony Glasgow
neighbourhood in November.
Now she’s emerged as an avid supporter of the hardline jihadists of
the Islamic State of Iraq & Al-Sham (ISIS) and is busy promoting it
to her followers online.
In a series of posts, she has described what it’s like to be a
“sister” and encouraged other Muslims living in the West to take up the
rebels’ cause. Much has been written about young Muslim men who have left western
countries for Syria, attracted by the image of adventure and camaraderie
proliferated by rebel groups there. But less is known about the women
who are drawn to ISIS and its self-proclaimed caliphate, which imposes
such a hardline version of Islam even Al-Qaeda has disowned it. “The message generally is, ‘Your life will be better than it is in
whichever western country you live in,’ ” said Melanie Smith, a
researcher at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation
and Political Violence in London. “[ISIS] says they need women to make
families and raise children who can carry on the same interpretation of
Islam that they’re practising.” The parents of Ms. Mahmood, 20, reported her missing soon after her disappearance. She surfaced in Syria a little... (click for more)
India has issued a
security alert in several states after an announcement by al-Qaeda of
the formation of an Indian branch of the group.
In a video message, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said
"al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" would "raise the flag of jihad"
across South Asia. In the 55-minute video posted online, Zawahiri pledged renewed loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Correspondents say this is an apparent snub to Islamic State (IS) militants. Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh met senior intelligence
officials to discuss new security measures and to brief the prime
minister.
India's intelligence and security services are studying the
Zawahiri announcement video, which experts said appeared to be a reaction to IS's growing dominance...
Lost jewels of Roman fleeing Boadicea found underneath high street
Historians have uncovered one of the finest collections of Roman jewellery
found inBritain,
which was hastily buried as Queen Boadicea and her army advanced on
Colchester.
The hoard, which was discovered as a tangled ball of metal, includes gold
armlets, earrings and rings as well as silver chains and coins.
Archaeologists believe it was abandoned by a rich Roman who was trying to
escape as Boadicea’s Iceni army marched on the town in AD61.
Dr Philip Crummy, the director of Colchester Archaeological Trust, described
the find hidden under the Essex town’s high street as “of national
importance and one of the finest ever uncovered in Britain”.
He said: “It is a particularly poignant find because of its historical
context: Boadicea and her army destroyedLondonand St Albans but many of the inhabitants had time to escape. However,
the people of Colchester were not so fortunate.
“They knew a large Roman army was coming to their aid but they were
practically defenceless, with only a small force of soldiers and no town
defences.
“Imagine their panic and desperation when they learnt of the massacre of a
large part of the Ninth Legion on its way to relieve them, and after a
two-day siege they were overrun. They would have tried desperately to bury
and hide valuables like jewellery for safe-keeping.
“We know that the noblest of Colchester’s Roman women were...
Formerly a Catholic American Michael Muhammad
Knight's travelled to Pakistan to study in a madrassa - but says it was
his American values rather than his new religious beliefs that made him
want to fight
ISIS Fighter (Reuters)
The Islamic State just released a gruesome new beheading video, again helmed by a western-bred Jihadist. As often happens, I received messages asking for explanation. You see, I’m the jihadi who never was. Twenty years ago, I
ditched my Catholic high school in upstate New York to study at a
Saudi-funded madrassa in Pakistan. A fresh convert, I jumped at the
chance to live at a mosque and study Qur’an all day. This was in
the mid-1990s, during an escalation of the Chechen resistance against
Russian rule. After class, we’d turn on the television and watch feeds
of destruction and suffering. The videos were upsetting. So upsetting
that soon I found myself thinking about abandoning my religious
education to pick up a gun and fight for Chechen freedom.
It wasn’t a verse I’d read in our Qur’an study circles that made me want
to fight, but rather my American values. I had grown up in the Reagan
’80s. I learned from G.I. Joe cartoons to (in the words of the theme
song) “fight for freedom, wherever there’s trouble.” I assumed that
individuals had the right — and the duty — to intervene anywhere on the
planet where they perceived threats to freedom, justice and...
With the new threats posed by Isis and Russia, the agenda at this week's Nato summit is full to bursting
The last time the UK hosted a Nato
summit was in 1990, when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, the cold
war was coming to an end, and the alliance was questioning its
relevance in a multipolar world where soft power might count more than
hard power. The old chestnut about Nato's purpose voiced by the first
Nato secretary general, Lord Ismay – "to keep the Russians out, the
Americans in" – looked hopelessly anachronistic. Russia famously had become a country with which the west felt it could do business.
A
quarter of a century later, Putin's actions, and the ever more grisly
new threats posed by Islamic militants, has given Nato a new lease of
life. Indeed, Nato is now so relevant that David Cameron's
chief task as host to this week's summit in Wales has been to ensure
that the agenda does not burst at the seams. Discussions will range
across the Russian advance in Ukraine and expansionist threat to the Baltics, the Nato withdrawal from
Afghanistan next year, the possibility of wider alliance air strikes in
northern Iraq against Islamic State (ISIS) the need for Nato to produce a viable rapid reaction force in Europe as well as respond to the threats of hybrid warfare and terrorism.
Cameron
has ensured that the crisis posed by Isis – made even more pertinent by
the latest beheading and the threat to a British citizen – will be
discussed both at a working dinner on Thursdaytomorrow evening, and then
again on Friday as the 28 members discuss asymmetric warfare, and how to respond to...
We live in an age of information availability that is unprecedented in the history of mankind. Never before have the vast majority of individual persons had such access to both information gathering but also information production. Social media allows the individual or organizations to spread their ideas rapidly and disperse them globally to a massive multi-national audience. This fact has not be lost on extremist organizations such as Al Qaeda and of late the Islamic State (IS).
Some like to consider groups like the IS, perhaps in light of their continued acts of barbarity, to be primitive, cave dwelling, hill fighters who will be easily defeated; sadly the truth is that they are not and will not be. Like Al Qaeda before them, the IS has shown itself to be adept at information operations (info ops) and publicizing their cause through the use of modern technology and both traditional and social media outlets. Not only are they highly adept, they are in many ways performing better than Western info ops.
The IS produces their own magazine called Dabiq, they produce recruiting videos designed to recruit internationally, and the most shock oriented of all the recent videos of the beheadings of American journalists. Despite, or perhaps because of, the ferosity displayed in these media releases they are succeeding in attracting members to their cause. They are attracting volunteers from Canada, volunteers from Britain, and volunteers from the United States in amongst others from across the globe. In fact when it comes to British recruitment for the IS, more British Muslims have volunteered to join the IS than the British army. Regardless of the condemnation of the IS and other similar organizations, their ideology and goals appear to be well received by significant numbers of Western citizens.
What the Western world also needs to understand as that the messages designed by organizations like the IS and Al Qaeda are intentionally designed to have a specific effect. The greatest media coup thus far for an extremist organization was Al Qaeda's successful attack on the World Trade Centre on 9/11. This attack was a pure info op from its inception. Immediately after those two towers fell everyone across the United States and throughout the world knew who Al Qaeda was, what their goals were, and what they were capable of doing to actualize them; shock and awe media in its purest form. The intent of the latest stream of beheading videos is designed in the same vein; the IS know that such videos shock the West and that the Western media will disperse them and dicuss their impact. Unfortunately extremist organizations know that Western media is a strategic point that can be effectively used to push their message.
The sophistication of info ops by groups such as the IS should be cause for concern; those who control the message control the argument. The IS is capable of producing modern quality videos, magazines, and distribute them through modern media outlets and their efforts have proven to be successful in gaining support and disseminating their ideology. To destroy an extremist organization their ideology must be attacked as vigorously as their fighters or it will continue to survive as a smouldering fire waiting to erupt once more.
Everything old is new again, as the old saying goes. One can't help but wonder if the retired pensioners from the various Western intelligence services who once worked against the Soviet Union feel that time has reversed somewhat of late. The resurgence of aggressive Russian military policy, first with Georgia, and now in the Ukraine must seem a bit of a blast from the past. For Russia's part, Putin is letting Europe know in no uncertain terms that Russia is back and ready for business. In a story published in Britain's The Telegraph, Putin warns Europe: “If I want to, I can take Kiev in two weeks.” It is indeed a bold move, however so far Putin is faring relatively well, all things considered. In the grand scheme of things the West has no serious interest in fighting a war over Ukraine, then again at the end of the day Putin likely doesn't neither.
For Putin, the the Ukraine is likely a probing action; to see how far the Western world has decayed, with an obviously weakened United States disengaging from their former muscular position around the globe. The West is weakening and the world knows it; Putin knows it and so does the Islamic State in the Middle East. Putin sees a chance to restore some of Russia's former glory by gobbling
up chunks of border land and he has gambled that the West will stomach
some success in order to avoid war. For now Putin and other aggressive actors around the globe will see how far they can push their luck; they will take little bits and pieces while the West wonders if this is 1939 or 1945 all over again. The plain truth is that this is not the Second World War returned nor is it the Cold War again. What we are seeing is a new situation that will have characteristics all of its own. There is a salient and immutable commonality from history however; perception of weakness is nearly always spurs on belligerents to pursue aggressive action.
