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by Nordic » Wed Jul 13, 2016 6:11 am
by semper occultus » Wed Jul 13, 2016 6:32 am
by Nordic » Wed Jul 13, 2016 6:36 am
by Nordic » Fri Sep 02, 2016 12:34 am
US Trained Militants That Formed the 'Core of Daesh'
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15:19 01.09.2016(updated 15:37 01.09.2016)
A top Daesh leader with a 3-million-dollar bounty from the US State Department on his head received counter-terrorism training in the United States for 11 years, CNN reported. In an interview with Sputnik, Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, political analyst told Radio Sputnik that the case with Khalimov is not isolated.
According to Ben-Meir, US trained militants that formed the core of what is now known as Daesh.
"Many of these people did not join ISIS [Daesh] then, but remained active in various capacities," the expert said. "Kalhimov was in the command of the police force, he was not motivated by what Daesh has been doing. But subsequently he sort of gave up," he added.
Gulmurod Khalimov (C)
© PHOTO: YOUTUBE / CATV NEWS
Made in America: State Dept. Launches $3Mln Manhunt For Daesh Leader Trained in US
Gulmurod Khalimov, who is also a top recruiter for the jihadist group, once served as a commander of a special operations unit in the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan. From 2003-2014 he was trained by US forces and participated in five counter-terrorism courses under an US assistance program.
"From 2003-2014 Colonel Khalimov participated in five counterterrorism training courses in the United States and in Tajikistan, through the Department of State's Diplomatic Security/Anti-Terrorism Assistance program," said State Departement spokeswoman Pooja Jhunjhunwala.
"The program is intended to train candidates from participating countries in the latest counterterrorism tactics, so they can fight the very kind of militants that Khalimov has now joined," CNN reported.
In a video released by the Islamic State, Khalimov reveals that in 2003 and 2008 he travelled to the United States, where he underwent training with Special Forces at a Blackwater military base.
According to Ben-Meir, "there are about 200-500 Tajiks who actually joined Daesh in the last couple of years".
Ben-Meir noted that no matter how good the training is, the authorities might fail to control the militants and "make mistakes."
"That is not a new phenomenon at all to train foreigners and send them back to the various parts of the world. But again mistakes do happen. And the United States made a terrible mistake particularly in this case," the expert stated.
Earlier, the US State Department offered a $3 million reward for any information leading to Khalimov's arrest.
"It is a substantial amount of money and it suggests the importance and the need to capture him. Obviously not only because he has now joined ISIS, but also because of the information, the knowledge and the experience he obtained and acquired," Ben-Meir said. "I'm sure there are others like him," the expert concluded.
Read more: http://sputniknews.com/us/20160901/1044 ... z4J4PAx8gq
by cptmarginal » Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:29 pm
Blast hits Pakistan's Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine
At least 75 dead, including children and women, as ISIL claims attack at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sindh province.
A suicide bomber killed scores of Sufi worshippers and wounded hundreds as they were performing a ritual in Pakistan's Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine in Sindh province.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack in Sehwan via it Amaq website.
Khadim Hussain, deputy inspector-general of Hyderabad police, told Al Jazeera that at least 75 people were killed in the blast, and more than 200 were injured.
At least 43 men, nine women and 20 children were among the victims.
Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said: "We are told that the death toll is likely to climb much higher. Hundreds are wounded and have been moved to local hospitals where the facilities aren't in the best shape."
Sikandar Mandhro, Sindh's health minister, told Al Jazeera: "There was a huge crowd gathered there for the [religious gathering] at the shrine, and there was a very big explosion.
"The medical facilities at Sehwan are not equipped to deal with a very big emergency, so our first priority right now is to get help to the wounded."
The closest hospital to the shrine is around 70km away.
Witness Nazakat Ali was praying when the bomb exploded.
"The explosion happened, and everyone started running," he told Al Jazeera, speaking from a hospital in Sehwan. "We were pushed out, there were so many people. I saw blood. I saw people injured and dead bodies."
Haider Ali, manager of a nearby hotel, told Al Jazeera that police have sealed off the shrine.
"Our security staff heard it," he said. "There are a lot of police and ambulances around now. It's complete chaos."
Thousands gather at the shrine every Thursday to pray and participate in the Sufi tradition of "dhamaal", a form of devotional percussion and dance.
The shrine, built in 1356, is by the tomb of Syed Muhammad Usman Marwandi, the Sufi philosopher poet better known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, one of Pakistan's most venerated saints. Each year, hundreds of thousands gather to celebrate "Urs", his death anniversary.
Faisal Edhi, who heads the Edhi Foundation, told Al Jazeera that the place of worship was difficult to access because it is surrounded by narrow streets.
"Ambulances have all been sent in from Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Dadu, Sukkur and Morho ... about 20 ambulances are headed in to help transfer patients to hospitals," he said as he was on his way to Sehwan.
The Edhi Foundation operates ambulance services, orphanages, women’s shelters, dispensaries and morgues in several Pakistani cities.
A police source in Sindh told Al Jazeera: "Police were present, but there were hundreds of people. There is obviously some lapse in security."
In November, at least 52 people were killed in a suicide attack on a shrine to Sufi saint Shah Noorani in Balochistan province, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.
Thursday's blast is the latest in a series of attacks across Pakistan since Monday, when 13 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a rally in the eastern city of Lahore.
That attack was followed on Wednesday by a suicide bombing at a government office in the Mohmand tribal area and a suicide attack on government employees in Peshawar, killing six people.
Two police officers were killed on Tuesday while trying to defuse a bomb in the Balochistan provincial capital of Quetta.
Asif Ghafoor, spokesman for Pakistan's army, blamed recent attacks on "hostile powers".
Writing on Twitter, he said that recent "terrorist" attacks were executed on direction from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
"We shall defend and respond," he said, later adding that the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was closed until further notice "due to security reasons".
Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's former president, took to Twitter to condemn the attack, calling the victims "innocent brotherly people of Pakistan".
by Elvis » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:27 pm
by Iamwhomiam » Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:37 pm
by Elvis » Fri Feb 17, 2017 10:40 pm
Iamwhomiam » Fri Feb 17, 2017 3:37 pm wrote:Yeah, but they're not her facts though. She's always working from a script and that makes me wonder why and who's prepared it for her to read.
by Iamwhomiam » Sat Feb 18, 2017 3:51 pm
by Elvis » Sat Feb 18, 2017 5:34 pm
Iamwhomiam » Sat Feb 18, 2017 12:51 pm wrote:This was my first exposure to her and I found her a bit suspicious. You're more familiar with her style and mannerisms. What you find refreshing, her script, is what gives me pause. Is it her script; did she author it? or is it someone else's work product? If not by her hand, who's production is it?
Her being a governmental partisan is the curiosity.
I'll spend some time listening to her again.
by Iamwhomiam » Sat Feb 18, 2017 7:06 pm
by SonicG » Sat Feb 18, 2017 8:36 pm
Donald Trump Will Defeat ISIS
And it will be mostly due to the work of his predecessor.
The dysfunction at the highest levels of the American government right now
obscures a dramatic reality: Donald Trump is going to defeat the Islamic State,
and Americans need to be fine with that.
Like most of the people reading this, I have been so completely absorbed by the
drama at the White House over the past week that its been easy to lose track of
Donald Trump Will DefeatISIS
And it will be mostly due to the work of his predecessor.
President Donald Trump holds up a signed presidential memorandum that directs his administration to "develop a comprehensive plan to
defeat ISIS."
ANDREW EXUM
FEB 17, 2017 | GLOBAL
Alex Brandon / AP
2/19/2017 Donald Trump Will Defeat ISIS The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/internation ... /02/donaldtrumpwilldefeatisis/517062/ 2/4
what’s taking place on the ground in the Middle East, where U.S. troops,
diplomats, and intelligence professionals continue to work by, with, and through
local forces to destroy the Islamic State.
When President Obama turned the affairs of state over to President Trump on
January 20th, the Islamic State was in full retreat across Iraq and Syria. This was
no accident: In the fall of 2015, while I was serving as the head of the
Pentagon’s Middle East policy shop, the Obama administration ramped up its
campaign against the group—and began to see the effects of that escalation
when Iraqi forces retook Ramadi in December of 2015.
Over the course of a very difficult summer of 2015—one in which both Ramadi
in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria had fallen under the black flags of the Islamic State
—civilian and military planners noticed an opportunity: For the first time since
their campaign began in 2014, the U.S. and coalition forces surrounding the
Islamic State were in a position to squeeze it from all directions.
When I came back into the Department of Defense in 2015 after a two-year
sojourn away, I was struck by how well the Islamic State moved men, weapons,
and materiel across the battlefield in Iraq and Syria. This allowed them to apply
pressure to the places where the forces in opposition were weakest. It also
allowed them to mass their own limited forces in places where they could
overmatch their opposition.
If we could figure out a way to apply pressure to the group from multiple
directions and cut off its key supply routes, that would create real dilemmas for
them.
And so that’s what we did.
Primarily working with Iraqi and Syrian partners, the U.S. military and these
local forces cut the main east-west lines of communication between Iraq and
Syria. We got more aid to our Lebanese and Jordanian partners to help them
defend their borders, and we re-started our initially ill-fated plan to train Syrians
to fight the Islamic State, giving them specialized training and equipment. Oh,
and we delivered an overwhelming amount of airpower in support of local forces
fighting the Islamic State at a time when Iraqi forces trained by U.S. soldiers
started re-entering the fight in replacement of previously ineffective units.
These newly retrained units performed qualitatively better than the units they
replaced, and the results on the ground bore that out.
One by one, cities and towns under the control of the Islamic State started
falling. Because we were fighting with local partners, it was messier than if we
had done it ourselves. The destruction to Ramadi and Fallujah, in particular,
was breathtaking. And it took longer than it would have taken if U.S. forces had
been in the lead. But it was also a lot less expensive, and only five U.S.
servicemen were killed in the process —compared with almost 5,000 over the
course of the earlier war in Iraq.
And the success of the campaign was going to be more sustainable than that of
our earlier efforts, we told ourselves, because Iraqis and Syrians were owning the
fight—at tremendous human cost, I must add—and thus owning the victory.
This was the war President Trump inherited from President Obama.
The Trump administration also inherited some strategic headaches, though
certainly not the “mess” the president claims. We never figured out a way to retake
Raqqa, for example, without arming and equipping the Kurdish militias so
toxic to our NATO allies in Turkey.
When we passed along our campaign plans to re-take the Islamic State’s Syrian
capital in Raqqa to the Trump administration, they dismissed it as “poor staff
work” (which is pretty damn laughable considering the quality of staff work that
has gone into this administration’s early executive orders, but I digress).
The fall ofthe Islamic State is going to happen, and it’s
going to happen on this president’s watch.
If the Trump administration wants to continue the momentum against the
Islamic State without committing more U.S. troops, it will likely need to arm the
Syrian Kurds to a greater degree than America has done so far. While the only
truly cohesive local force operating against the Islamic State in Syria—that is, if
one doesn’t count Lebanese Hezbollah as local—the Syrian Kurds do not have
the kind of equipment necessary to breach the defenses surrounding Raqqa at an
acceptable human cost. Giving them more equipment, though, as several former
Obama administration officials have recommended, will cause some serious
pain in U.S.-Turkish relations.
But the fall of the Islamic State is going to happen, and it’s going to happen on
this president’s watch. Like the American jobs he claims to have created that
were announced long before he took office, Trump will take credit for the
Islamic State’s defeat. It will be in his 2020 campaign speeches, and it will be a
cudgel with which he beats the Democrats each time they (or John McCain)
point out his incompetence on issues of national security.
And Americans need to be fine with that, because as much as many of us do not
want this president to get the credit for the work of others, defeating the Islamic
State is a national good that should be bigger than politics. And Democrats will
do well to remember that the Obama administration could not have done what it
did in Iraq and Syria without the support of a Republican-led Congress.
Victory has a thousand fathers—the loudest and orangest of which will be the
president. But victory still beats defeat.
The Navy SEAL raid on an Al Qaeda encampment in Yemen on January 29 was the first counterterrorism operation ordered by President Trump. The assault killed more than two dozen civilians (including nine children), missed its primary target, and left a Navy SEAL dead. Candidate Trump threatened to torture “radical Islamic terrorists,” kill their families, and carpet-bomb their bases. The difficulties with the Yemen operation point to the severe challenges that his administration will face in fulfilling the expectations raised during the 2016 campaign.
The Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL), which the Trump administration has pledged to annihilate, is arguably on its last legs in much of the Muslim world. A closer examination of just how it has been pushed back, however, reveals that it takes a global village to defeat ISIS. Unwelcome though the revelation may be to the ideologues in the White House, conservative Muslims are among our best allies against the violent and brutal radicals.
more at:
https://www.thenation.com/article/if-tr ... g-muslims/
by Elvis » Sat Feb 18, 2017 10:40 pm
SonicG wrote:Donald Trump Will Defeat ISIS
And it will be mostly due to the work of his predecessor.
https://www.theatlantic.com/internation ... is/517062/
Andrew Exum is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. From 2015 to 2016, he was the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East policy.
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