Your Take On The ISIS Phenomenon

[82_28]

I LOVE this.

It's like something out of a Cabela's catalog.

[Luther Blissett]

I would prefer nonviolence but I'm too privileged to know what life-or-death situations were like for Geronimo, the White Rose, or the YPJ.

[Luther Blissett]

Obama ISIS fight request sent to Congress
By Jim Acosta and Jeremy Diamond, CNN
Updated 5:38 PM ET, Wed February 11, 2015

Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama on Wednesday made the case for Congress to formally authorize the use of military force in the war against ISIS, declaring that congressional passage of the measure makes the U.S. "strongest" in the fight, and that "ISIL is going to lose."

"Now, make no mistake, this is a difficult mission and it will remain difficult for some time," he said during an afternoon press conference. But, he added, "Our coalition is on the offensive, ISIL is on the defensive and ISIL is going to lose."

Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, outlined the parameters of the request he delivered to Congress earlier that day. He said the bill reflects "our core objective to destroy ISIL," and includes authority for a "systemic and sustained campaign of airstrikes," support and training for forces on the ground and humanitarian assistance.

He made clear, however, that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, or AUMF, does not call for the deployment of ground troops in Iraq or Syria.

"I am convinced that the U.S. should not get back into another ground war in the Middle East -- it's not in our national security interest and not necessary for us to defeat ISIL," he said.

The proposal does give the military the "flexibility" to confront "unforeseen circumstances," potentially by deploying special forces in the region.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill received a draft AUMF, a resolution that would formally authorize the already six-month-old U.S. military effort against the militant group.

The joint resolution would limit the President's authority to wage a military campaign against ISIS to three years and does not authorize "enduring offensive ground combat operations," according to text of the resolution.

In a letter to Congress, Obama explained that the draft resolution would give him the authority to authorize "ground combat operations in limited circumstances," including rescue operations and special forces operations to "take military action against ISIL leadership."

The resolution would also sunset the 2002 AUMF that spawned the Iraq War. Obama withdrew American troops from Iraq in 2011, but the military authorization remains in effect.

The resolution drafted by the White House does not repeal the 2001 military force authorization that has served as the legal justification for the military campaign against ISIS and other U.S. military efforts to combat terrorism around the world.

The document also specifically notes that ISIS poses a "grave threat" to U.S. national security interests and regional stability.

And Obama detailed the ISIS threat in a letter to Congress accompanying the draft legislation.

"The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) poses a threat to the people and stability of Iraq, Syria, and the broader Middle East, and to U.S. national security," Obama writes. "It threatens American personnel and facilities located in the region and is responsible for the deaths of U.S. citizens"

As in the draft resolution, Obama goes on to name the Americans killed in ISIS captivity, "including James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller."

There is broad support in Congress for a formal AUMF, though lawmakers disagree on the scope of the military powers that should be handed to the President.

The Hill sounds off

House Republican leaders were quick to dismiss the White House draft authorization as too limited, insisting that the President should have fewer limitations.

"If we are going to defeat this enemy, we need a comprehensive military strategy and a robust authorization, not one that limits our options," House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement Tuesday. "Any authorization for the use of military force must give our military commanders the flexibility and authorities they need to succeed and protect our people...I have concerns that the president's request does not meet this standard."

Boehner's No. 2, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, echoed Boehner's support for an AUMF as well as his criticism of the limits the White House's draft would impose.

"I am prepared to support an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) that provides new legal authorities to go after ISIL and other terrorist groups. However, I will not support efforts that impose undue restrictions on the U.S. military and make it harder to win," McCarthy said in a statement.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi took the opposite path during a press conference Wednesday.

"We hope to have bipartisan support for something that would limit the power of the President, but nonetheless protect the American people in a very strong way," Pelosi said.

Pelosi added that she hoped the three-year authorization would be longer than needed to defeat ISIS.

Pelosi also offered her support for repealing the 2002 authorization, another provision included in Obama's draft resolution.

"I don't see any reason -- in fact I actively support -- repealing the 2002 authorization. It was based on a false premise," Pelosi said. "Nonetheless, it should go, and it should go now."

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is staffing up for a potential 2016 presidential bid, took the opportunity to slam likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

"I do really blame Hillary Clinton's war in Libya," Paul said Wednesday on Fox News referring to the NATO campaign to oust Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi authorized by Obama while Clinton was secretary of state.

Libya has erupted into civil war and has become a breeding ground for radical Islamic fighters, many of whom have left to join ISIS's ranks.

Paul also said the U.S. needs to supply more weapons to Kurdish fighters fighting ISIS in Iraq, but said the U.S. should refrain from getting involved in the war in Syria -- fearing weapons supplied to moderate fighters could get into ISIS's hands.

Paul has been at odds with his Republican colleagues on many aspects of foreign policy, especially in urging for a more restrained, and not limitless, authority to fight ISIS.

Projecting American unity

Obama urged Congress during his State of the Union address to formally authorize the military campaign to "show the world that we are united in this mission" and Secretary of State John Kerry urged Congress to swiftly pass the resolution.

"We are strongest as a nation when the Administration and Congress work together on issues as significant as the use of military force," Kerry said. "This is a moment where Congress can make it clear all over the world that no matter differences on certain issues, at home we're absolutely united and determined in defeating ISIL."

Obama again noted in his letter to Congress Wednesday that he already has the authority to fight ISIS, "I have repeatedly expressed my commitment to working with the Congress to pass a bipartisan authorization for the use of military force" against ISIS.

Obama also stressed that the White House's draft resolution would constrain the U.S. military effort and would not authorize "long-term, large-scale ground combat operations" like in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While Obama did not repeal the 2001 military authorization, he explained in his letter that he remains "committed to working with Congress and the American people to refine, and ultimately repeal, the 2001 AUMF."

Here's where GOP wants to hand Obama more power

[8bitagent]

Gangsta rapper Deso Dog, who once toured with DMX, is now thought to be among ISIS inner circle and appears in a recent beheading video.
I guess this is the next level of gangsta rap status?

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-t ... st-n303456
http://www.vocativ.com/world/isis-2/des ... ing-video/
http://www.vocativ.com/world/isis-2/des ... paign=feb1

[AlicetheKurious]

I haven't actually read this whole thread, but felt compelled to let you guys know that ISIS is widely understood among Arab people to be a tool of Israeli, US and British intelligence, for many compelling reasons. I won't go into those reasons now, but in fact, it was designed to seem realistic only to Western audiences. Even its acronym, "ISIS", is meaningful only in English. Aside from the fact that acronyms are quite alien-sounding and rare in Arabic, the acronym it uses in Arabic, Daesh, is gibberish. I'm not aware of any other instance of any previous group or organization using an acronym that is meaningless. In fact, the only organizations that I can think of that use acronyms in Arabic are Fateh and Hamas and MENA, the official Egyptian news agency.

Fateh is the acronym of "Palestine Liberation Movement" backward, and Hamas is the acronym of "Islamic Resistance Movement". "Fateh" means "conquest", and "Hamas" means "zeal". MENA stands for "Middle East News Agency", but Mena was the pharaoh who united Upper and Lower Egypt and is the founder of the Egyptian nation. Daesh is not only named nonsensically in Arabic, its actions are all nonsensical and insane, but only if it is viewed as Islamic or Arab. On the other hand, its actions all make perfect sense if compared with the agendas of certain Israeli and American strategists, as documented in their own writings and stated aims.

Anyway. My real purpose is to say that it has been widely reported here that the Jordanian pilot was actually killed on January 3rd, a full month before the infamous video was propagated by the Mossad front SITE. He was on a sortie near the Jordanian-Syrian border, when he witnessed a US plane dropping supplies on an ISIS terrorist camp. He reportedly took photographs and described what he saw. His communications were intercepted by either Israel or the US. In either case, his plane was shot down by a ground-to-air missile far more advanced than anything currently available to ISIS. He parachuted, and landed in the Euphrates, from which he was taken by the ISIS terrorists. BTW, without exception, all those who saw the video were convinced that the masked ISIS terrorists who appear in the video are not Arabs. Once again, their body language is alien. And there has been quite a bit of black humor circulating about all those orange jumpsuits, in cut and color exactly like the ones used by the US, which are so readily available to ISIS.

In any case, one consequence of this horrific murder is a noticeable change in the Jordanian military's conduct of the war against ISIS. Whereas previously thousands of air raids by the US-led coalition did very little damage to ISIS, and on the contrary, "accidentally" contributed tons of supplies, weapons and ammunition that helped the terrorist organization entrench and expand its control over Arab territories, the Jordanians suddenly started to really pound the ISIS positions. This has also had an effect on the diplomatic front, with Jordanian-Egyptian relations becoming much closer than before. Egypt had refused to join the US-led coalition, because (rightly, in my opinion) it is viewed as a scam to extort as much money as possible from the Arabs, which the US/Israel are trying to prolong as much as possible by largely leaving ISIS unmolested and even supplying it with all the necessary weapons, logistics and supplies to pursue its anti-Arab/Muslim agenda.

[Sounder]

Great to hear from you Alice and yes it's safe to say that anybody here, except maybe AD, recognizes ISIS as a pure Western Imperialist product.

Like the tat says, United States Army

image: http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/ll_a_s/ ... c_rate=230

[82_28]

Hey, Alice! Some of us have been crying out for you in a number of threads for your take on all this shit. So good to read you again! Like Sounder said, most (if not all) of us here are calling it the scam that it is. I have no personal doubt of what I consider this "ISIS" bullshit to be totally western manufactured for "our" audience. In fact, for me, there was never any doubt.

Question is: Why "manufacture" something in the first place? The story behind the story becomes the story. This ragtag group that hails from all sorts of western countries in their toyotas with their guns high in the air as they traverse the desert from place to place would be decimated forthwith if this were something real. Or as real as we're led to believe it is.

[seemslikeadream]

Alice!!....keepin' it real....

How the US Helped Create Al Qaeda and ISIS
Is Open-Ended Chaos Desired US-Israeli Aim in Middle East?

Larry Chin: Je suis CIArlie

[coffin_dodger]

Thanks, Alice - it's comforting to read sanity made real.

[solace]

Positively Pavlovian. And creepy.

[seemslikeadream]

Positively Pavlovian. And creepy.

so true

How the US Helped Create Al Qaeda and ISIS
Is Open-Ended Chaos Desired US-Israeli Aim in Middle East?
Larry Chin: Je suis CIArlie

[Iamwhomiam]

Thanks Alice. It's good to hear from you. I still believe the goal of a Caliphate is a western goal, and this creation, IS or whatever one names it, is the means.

Be well and stay awhile, if you will. We sorely lack your insight and I'm sure we all appreciate hearing your perspective.

Corrected typo: 'Here' to 'hear' in 2nd sentence.

[semper occultus]

....not opining on the origins of ISIS but the acronym angle hardly seems conclusive...ISIS is full of westernised recruits and converts, much of its propaganda effort is aimed squarely at the western media and its consumers so why wouldn't they talk to us in "our" language...

..isn't AQAP a similar form of nomenclature...?

[Elvis]

it has been widely reported here that the Jordanian pilot was actually killed on January 3rd, a full month before the infamous video was propagated by the Mossad front SITE. He was on a sortie near the Jordanian-Syrian border, when he witnessed a US plane dropping supplies on an ISIS terrorist camp.

I do recall reports of "accidental" drops of arms and supplies, like this one:

U.S. accidentally delivered weapons to the Islamic State by airdrop, militants say

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/chec ... ts-allege/

As always, Alice, thank you for your terrific contributions. And yes, please post a bit more often, we need you!

[AlicetheKurious]

I also wanted to point out that there is certainly a direct link between France's decision to support the Palestinian Authority's application for recognition as a state and membership in the UN, the subsequent targeting of France by "ISIS" in the "Charlie Hebdo" incident, and France's announcement yesterday that it would be supplying the Egyptian government with 24 of its super-advanced Rafale war-planes, thus contributing to Egypt's objective to become militarily independent of the US. Though the US has tried to put a game face on, it's clear to everyone involved that this is only the latest of many slaps. (These include the recent agreement between Egypt and Russia to drop the US dollar in their bilateral trade and tourism, and for Russia to supply Egypt with its own advanced war-planes and other weapons, in addition to contracts involving massive industry and agriculture and infrastructure projects, and the recent rapprochement between Germany and Russia).

France is one of the countries that the US has been edging out of the Middle East and Africa, along with Germany and of course Russia and China.

On edit: semper occultus, I had to google "AQAP". I had no idea what it stood for. It's always been referred to by its full name as "Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula", never by any acronym. Speaking of acronyms, it was interesting how President Obama suddenly switched, a few months ago, to using the acronym ISIL. That could be because the results of googling ISIS sometimes included "Israeli Secret Intelligence Service", the Mossad's name in official US-Israeli communications.