Global Jihad Rising

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.

There have been many stories thus far about Westerners, either of a Islamic cultural background or recent converts, who have freely gone to fight for the IS.  Canadians are joining the IS (at this point well over 100 suspected to have done so), Americans have also been found to have done the same, and by far the most affected by IS recruitment have been the nations of Western Europe.  British intelligence services believe that there are possibly as many as 500 British subjects fighting for the IS, a figure which also includes many British women, some of who allegedly act as‘Sharia police.’  Belgium has also seen a great number of citizens leave to join the IS, estimates ranging from 250 –400 Belgian citizens.  And above all others is France, where it is believed as many as 1000 French citizens have joined with the IS.  France too has discovered that 1/6 of their population support the Islamic State’s actions and their rise in power.

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. 

Iraq's Shi'ite Militia, Kurds Use U.S. Air Strikes to Further Own Agendas

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)

Canada Finds One of Two British Explorer Ships that Vanished in the Arctic More than 160 Years Ago

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  Sir John Franklin

  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.
  The wreckage was confirmed by Parks Canada on Sunday using a remote underwater vehicle in the Victoria Strait near...(Click for more)
  
  

Insight - Vietnam Building Deterrent Against China in Disputed Seas with Submarines

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.

The Vietnamese are likely to run so-called area denial operations off its coast and around its military bases in the Spratly island chain of...(click for more)

Britain Finally Faces Up to Its Homegrown Jihadist Problem

 

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.

Most jihadists who call Britain home aren't immigrants. They are the alienated children of immigrants. These second-generation immigrants regard...(click for more)

Canadian Armed Forces Advisors to be Stationed in Iraq's North

By: The National Bacon

 

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. 

ISIS in Iraq: Canada to send Special Ops Soldiers as Advisers

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.

"This is an advise and assist role, not one in which Canadian Forces will be accompanying Iraqi forces on missions [or] tactical operations. They are there to provide advice that will help the government of Iraq and its security forces be more effective against ISIL," Jason MacDonald said in...(click for more)