Editor’s Note…
Recent news reports suggest the Israelis are possibly preparing to leverage the counter terrorist operation – currently being carried out in and around the Hebron area in search of the three teens abducted by Islamic terrorists – into a fully blown showdown with the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Gaza which has recently joined forces with the PLO regime in Ramallah. Missile defense batteries have been deployed in the Southern areas of the country and reserve mobilization has been reported.
The unusual nature of the abduction (for which no one has taken responsibility yet) increases the suspect that it may be related to shady Salafist groups in the west bank who may be backed by foreign states (perhaps even NATO related, given the well entrenched presence of international “observers”(read spies) in the Hebron area where those teens were snatched.
A third Israel-Gaza war since 2008 is likely to end up with yet another stalemate which could only benefit Big Oil interests in the west who are eager to lay their hands on Gaza’s offshore gas fields, and the convenient pretext exists in the form of this recent crisis which seems like a local offshoot of the regional ISIS crisis spanning Iraq and Syria, and as the report below suggests, also Lebanon.
Apprehension here has risen significantly since the Sunni Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, or ISIS, has blitzkrieged its way from eastern Syria into west and central Iraq.
In a matter of days, ISIS, or the Dulat al-Islam fi al-Iraq or DAASH as it’s also known here, has swept through Iraq’s predominantly Sunni provinces of Anbar, Daiyala, Karbala and Salah Ad Din heading toward Baghdad just inside Shia-dominated territory.
In virtually one fell swoop, it has taken over military bases with millions of dollars in weapons and aircraft, emptied out banks in Mosul to the tune of half a billion dollars and taken over oil fields, both of which will add to their coffers to finance their new caliphate.
In addition, more than 10,000 Iraqi troops surrendered to ISIS, throwing away their U.S. supplied uniforms, turning over their U.S. supplied weapons – all without firing a shot.
Sources say that most of the Iraqi military who gave up without a fight were Sunni and probably have turned their allegiance away from the Shiite-controlled government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to the Sunni ISIS group.
The sheer speed at which ISIS was able to operate has caused the Shiite residents of Lebanon to become increasingly apprehensive that the same thing could happen here.
There are reports that the success of ISIS, first in eastern Syria and now into western and central Iraq, in creating an Islamic caliphate under strict Shariah law has galvanized not only the tens of thousands of unemployed Sunni young men but is beginning to prompt al-Nusra fighters to join ISIS.
Al-Nusra and elements of ISIS are in Lebanon now, embedded in Sunni areas and in most of the Palestinian camps throughout the country. At the moment, there are more pockets of al-Nusra fighters in Lebanon than ISIS.
ISIS commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had sought to bring al-Nusra in Syria under his control but al-Qaida central leader Ayman al-Zawahiri repudiated the brutality of ISIS and publicly declared that it no longer was its representative in Syria.
That didn’t seem to faze al-Baghdadi who, right after that, began his sweep into eastern Syria and just within a few days took over virtually all of eastern and central Iraq.
A few months earlier, his forces had successfully taken back the Iraqi city of Fallujah after U.S. Marines in 2004 kicked out ISIS’ predecessor, the Iraq State of Iraq, or ISQ.
ISIS’ success in Iraq also can be attributed to the various other Islamic fighters from other groups who are swearing allegiance to it.
The fear, however, is that any al-Nusra or ISIS initiative will quickly get recruits from young people in the Sunni pockets throughout the country, including those in the Palestinian camps where unemployment tops more than 90 percent.
If this were to happen, combined with ISIS’ advances in Iraq, the entire Middle East region will soon find itself embroiled in what could become a major Sunni-Shia conflict that may ultimately determine who wields the most influence in the Middle East – Shiite Iran or Sunni Saudi Arabia
Isis is the (slightly confusing) English acronym for the Islamic State inIraq and the Levant, a Sunni jihadist group whose sudden capture of Mosul, Tikrit and extensive swaths of Iraqi territory last week has triggered a new crisis, complete with atrocities targeting Iraqi army soldiers and volunteers. Known in Arabic as Da'ash, it grew out of the Islamic State in Iraq, an al-Qaida affiliate which, in turn, came into existence after the 2003 US-led invasion.
In the areas of Syria it controls, Isis has set up courts, schools and other services, flying its black jihadi flag everywhere. In Raqqa, it even started a consumer protection authority for food standards. It has established a reputation for extreme brutality, carrying out crucifixions, beheadings and amputations.
Estimates of Isis numbers range from 7,000 to 10,000. Its rank and file members are drawn from fighters who were previously with al-Qaida, some former Ba'athists and soldiers of the Saddam-era army. What is far harder to quantify – and a highly significant question – is how much support the group has from Iraq's wider Sunni community, the people who lost their power and influence when Saddam was overthrown.
Computer sticks taken from an Isis courier by Iraqi forces before the fall of the northern city of Mosul revealed that Isis – before the city's capture – had cash and assets worth $875m (£516m). After the fall of Mosul, Isis looted the banks and captured military supplies that have boosted the group's coffers to about $2bn, according to Iraqi officials.
Gulf donors support Isis out of solidarity with fellow Sunnis in Syria as President Bashir al-Assad has unleashed his military to crush opposition to his rule. The US has tried to put pressure on the governments in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar to crack down on funding for extremist groups, but these regimes say donors are justified in backing rebel forces in Syria because the US failed to act against Assad, especially when he crossed the "red line" laid down by President Barack Obama with the use of chemical weapons.
Baghdad is a city accustomed to siege, but the stunning events of last week, with Isis poised to begin its assault, made the Iraqi capital unrecognisable, even to locals. Streets were empty and foreboding. People were stockpiling food and water. The barbarians were at the gates, or so it seemed. This was a crisis like no other.
Their death-cultism is now on full display in Iraq. About a week ago, ISIS released a video of their latest exploits. The grotesque hour-long footage shows ISIS capturing Iraqi police officers and then shooting them as they kneel down and wait to die. In slow motion, ISIS regales us with terrified prisoners digging their own graves, and with assassinations. The ISIS videographers crow in the background. At one point, the camera records a gang of masked men who are slowly interrogating a police officer for propaganda value. Then, two of the terrorists jump on the officer and behead him, slowly, as he flails and struggles. The next scene shows his decapitated head sitting upon his torso. This is the world they seek: a “holy” kingdom of death.
Of course, it isn’t only ISIS and Iran. In Yemen, fighters from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) film themselves massacring unsuspecting villagers. In Kenya, Al-Shabaab has just murdered fans watching the World Cup. In Nigeria, Boko Haram slit throats and kidnaps children. (A celebrity-led hashtag campaign has thus far rescued no children.) In Beirut, Iran’s ally Hezbollah casually murdersits democratic opponents. These cases are just a few from the swamp of Islamic terrorism.
We need to recognize that whether it’s Iran or ISIS or Islamic terrorists elsewhere, what’s happening around the world is proof of a deeper truth: the rot of political Islam. Far removed from the Islamic age of medieval enlightenment, much of the world’s Islamic political discourse is now defined by corruption and hate.
The rot is spreading. In the interest of opening our eyes to the danger, let me offer another Qutb quote: “The object of [holy order] is all humanity, and its sphere of action is the whole Earth.”
World War lll is a religious war and it has already started. The murder of Christians around the globe is an indicator of what is to come unless the march of Islam is stopped in it’s tracks.
We hear the word jihad daily, but we often don’t understand what we are hearing. The Qur’an talks of two jihads, the Lesser and the Greater Jihad and this is where we fail to understand the motivation behind extremist views.
The Greater jihad is the everyday struggle that Muslims face to grow in their faith and worship Allah, something most Muslims feel is the hardest thing they are asked to do, hence the greater tag. The Lesser Jihad is the struggle they face to build a good,stable Muslim society. It is the Lesser Jihad that allows Muslims to conduct Harb al-Muqadis, holy war.
The three main tenants of Islam
- Islam’s ultimate goal is to rule the world. Islamic theology provides two methods for this to be accomplished. The first is spiritual, as people are lured into conversion. The second is coercive; it is the political/physical conquest of nations. For Muslims, there are no gray areas. They see the world in black and white. To them the world is divided into two big camps: the House of Islam and the House of War. The House of Islam are the Muslims, and the House of war are the non-Muslims. Muslims (the House of Islam) are in a constant state of spiritual/political/physical warfare with Non-Muslims (the House of War) until they subjugate them into Islam.
- Islam always employs a carrot and stick policy. The carrot and stick that is perpetually set before Muslims is the expectation of generous rewards in this life and in eternity for those who fight for Islam. On the other hand, those who falter are warned of severe temporal and eternal punishments.
- Apostasy from Islam is not an option. Once-a-Muslim-always-a-Muslim, the only official alternative is death. There is no room for changing one’s mind. The door is wide open to join Islam, but there is no backdoor for those that would like to leave it.
The third point there is important. A person is considered in Islam to have the religion of its father. Barack Obama, even if he doesn’t wish to be, is considered under the law of Islam to be a Muslim. As no attempts have been made on his life one has to assume that Islam regards him as still being a Muslim, that he has not turned his back on the faith.
Releasing five high value Taliban commanders in return for one American soldier has possibly reinforced this opinion to many at home and to Muslims around the world.
The only way that Christianity can survive, that our way of life can survive, is by preventing Islam getting a foothold on our home soil. Protecting our borders from infiltration by radical Islam has to be the number one priority of the politicians. If the Middle East wants to destroy itself so be it, it is their business not ours.
The United States government needs to concentrate less on controlling law abiding Americans and more on finding, isolating and returning to their own countries those who wish to destroy the fabric of American society.
A controversial senior adviser to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is receiving criticism for tweeting that the recent takeover of Iraqi cities by a violent terror group is proof that a Muslim “caliphate” is making an “inevitable” return.
Mohamed Elibiary, a controversial figure and member of DHS’s Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), discussed what he described as the “inevitable” return of a Muslim caliphate Friday on Twitter.“As I’ve said b4 inevitable that ‘Caliphate’ returns,” Elibiary tweeted in response to a question about the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham), which is currently seeking to overthrow the Iraqi government and instate strict Sharia law in the country.
“Choice only whether we support [European Union] like Muslim Union vision or not,” wrote Elibiary, who has “advised numerous federal, state and local law enforcement organizations on homeland security-related matter,” according to his biography on DHS’s website.
Elibiary has come under heavy criticism in the past for claiming that America is “an Islamic country with an Islamically compliant constitution.” Critics have said that such rhetoric makes him unfit to serve as an adviser for DHS, which is tasked with defending the U.S. border from terrorism.
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