Condemning QSIS or the self-claimed Islamic state ruler, al- Baghdadi their extremist ideologies and to clarify the true teachings of Islam

Dar al-Iftaa signs an open letter addressed to QSIS to condemn their extremist ideologies and clarify the true teachings of Islam

More than 120 Muslim scholars across the globe have signed an open letter which was sent to the leader of QSIS or the self-claimed Islamic state ruler, al- Baghdadi, in their attempt to clarify the true Islamic stance on issues such as the Islamic caliphate, jihad, and treating non-Muslims among other vital issues.

This open letter comes after the horrific atrocities that were committed by QSIS which in no way shape or form could be remotely related to Islam. The Islamic scholars felt the responsibility to cite their vehement rejection and utter condemnation to the theological fallacies and warped ideologies that these terrorist groups embrace.
 

Dr. Shawki Allam, the current Grand Mufti of Egypt was one of the signatories of this open letter to state his adamant refusal of placing any association of Islam with their abhorrent acts of extremism which is prohibited under all religions.

This move was necessary especially due to the unfortunate fact that a number of European Muslims are joining these extremist groups and are lured by the myth of establishing an Islamic caliphate as they are wrongly embracing the notion that establishing a caliphate is the only legally valid political system in the eyes of the Islamic law. Also Muslims across the globe are dismayed with the atrocities that are committed both against Muslims and non-Muslims which totally go against the merciful teachings of Islam.

The "black flag of jihad" as used by various Islamic terrorist organizations (since the late 1990s) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“These terrorist groups failed to recognize that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was not sent except to be a mercy to all the worlds and they failed to understand that God bestows mercy on those who are merciful and thus we should have mercy on those on earth, for the Lord in heaven to have mercy on us” said Dr. Ibrahim Negm, the Senior advisor to the Grand Mufti.

QSIS among other terrorist groups lost all meanings of compassion, mercy and affection towards humanity as they use the pathetic classical approach of hiding behind the motto of religion to attain their pity political goals of usurping lands, gaining political power and ruling people through torture, killing and persecution.

To read the open letter, please click here http://lettertobaghdadi.com/

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Please do find as well:

• Not true or True Catholicism and True Islam
• Public not informed enough about Jihad terrorism in Belgium
• Quran versus older Holy Writings of Divine Creator

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• Islamic Authority: Extremists No 'Islamic State'
• Islamic authority: Extremists no 'Islamic State'
• Islamic State? No, call it QSIS, says top Islamic authority in Egypt

• ISIL, ISIS - Now QSIS? Top Sunni Cleric Says Stop Calling Terrorists 'Islamic' (cnsnews.com)
  “Muslim and non-Muslim thinkers across the world are invited to post their opinions, videos and posts against Qaeda Separatists.”
  The 119-year-old Cairo institution, which issues fatwas or religious rulings on a wide range of topics, said it hoped Muslims and non-Muslims would actively support the campaign, “which does not only seek to exonerate the name of Islam from the terrorist group’s heinous acts but also to condemn these dreadful acts under the name of humanity.”
  Dar al-Iftaa launched the campaign after the appearance last week of an online ISIS video showing a masked militant railing against America before beheading U.S. journalist James Foley.
  Allam’s spokesman, Ibrahim Negm, said the beheading provided “a chance for ill-hearted opportunists to deliberately promote distorted images of Islam and level false and appalling accusations against it.”
  Other atrocities committed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria include mass executions, crucifixions and other killings, with minority Christians and Yazidis targeted in particular, as well as rapes and sexual slavery.
  The group claims to be acting in the name of Islam, has declared an Islamic “caliphate,” invokes the Qur’an in its propaganda messages and videos, and is led by a man who, by naming himself “caliph,” lays claim to the mantle of Mohammed, Islam’s revered 7th century founder.
  
• 'IS no Islamic State' (arabtimesonline.com)
  The Gulf nation of Qatar is hitting back at suggestions that it supports the Islamic State extremist group, saying that “determined, collective action” is needed to end sectarian violence gripping Iraq and Syria. The energy-rich OPEC member has come under renewed scrutiny over ties to militants, including the Palestinian Hamas and Syrian rebel groups. A German official last week suggested that Qatar may also play a role in funding the Islamic State group, which is fighting in Iraq and Syria and recently beheaded American journalist James Foley. Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah unequivocally denied funding the Islamic State group. “Qatar does not support extremist groups, including ISIS, in any way,” he said in an emailed statement dated Saturday, using an alternative name for the group. “We are repelled by their views, their violent methods and their ambitions.
  The vision of extremist groups for the region is one that we have not, nor will ever, support in any way.” Qatar was one of the first Middle Eastern countries to condemn Foley’s murder, saying it was “a heinous crime that goes against all Islamic and humanitarian principles, as well as international laws and conventions.” The tiny Gulf emirate has supported Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.
  The Islamic State group is battling Assad’s forces, but it has also clashed with other rebel groups that don’t embrace its extreme interpretation of Islam. Experts say the group generates at least some of its funding from kidnapping, extortion and other criminal business enterprises. Germany’s Development Minister Gerd Mueller suggested Wednesday that Qatar also could be supporting the group.
  
• Islamic authority in Egypt launches campaign against Islamic State (haaretz.com)
  The campaign by the Dar el-Ifta, the top authority that advises Muslims on spiritual and life issues, adds to the war of words by Muslim leaders across the world targeting the Islamic State group, which controls wide swaths of Iraq and Syria. Its violent attacks, including mass shootings, destroying Shiite shrines, targeting minorities and beheadings including American journalist James Foley, have shocked Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
  
  The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Allam, previously said the extremists violate all Islamic principles and laws and described the group as a danger to Islam as a whole. Now, the Dar el-Ifta authority he oversees will suggest foreign media drop using "Islamic State" in favor of the "Al-Qaida Separatists in Iraq and Syria," or the acronym "QSIS," said Ibrahim Negm, an adviser to the mufti.
• Islamic authority: Extremists no 'Islamic State' (cnsnews.com)
  Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi also weighed in. On Sunday, speaking to editors of Egyptian newspapers, he said the extremist group is part of a plot aiming to "undermine Islam as a belief."
  He said the current religious discourse in the region only feeds "minds that believe that killing and bloodshed is the way to defend Islam," in comments carried by MENA.
  El-Sissi has been a champion of advancing moderate Islam, building his power base in the chaotic region and since he ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on vows to crush extremist Islam.
  
• Islamic authority: Extremists no 'Islamic State' (stripes.com)
  The Islamic State group has a sophisticated media and Internet-based campaign that has drawn in foreign fighters, which may explain why Islamic scholars chose to adopt a similar approach. But it's unclear how successful this latest push against the group will be.
  Dar el-Ifta is famed among scholars of Islamic jurisprudence and has offered training to many Muslims from around the world since the late 1800s. But its opinions are advisory and are often viewed as too close to official Egyptian government positions.
  
• Islamic authority: Extremists no 'Islamic State' (nzherald.co.nz)
  Muslims around the world have battled against the backlash that followed the rise of al-Qaida and the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the U.S. Scholars and activist groups have sought for years to disassociate themselves from militants touting their own extremist versions of Islam.
  They say the Islamic State group is another, one that appears more ambitious and aggressive than al-Qaida. The Islamic State group renamed itself on June 29 when it unilaterally declared the territory it held in Iraq and Syria a caliphate, effectively erasing the two countries' borders and setting up a proto-state governed by its own strict interpretation of Shariah law. It previously referred to itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant while fighting in Syria against the rule of President Bashar Assad.
  
• Islamic authority: Extremists no 'Islamic State' (usnews.com)
  Muslims arrive to attend the Friday prayer at Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo, Egypt. Dar el-Ifta, the top Islamic authority in Egypt, revered by many Muslims worldwide, launched Sunday an internet-based campaign aimed particularly at the West against an extremist group in Syria and Iraq, saying it is not an “Islamic State.” The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Allam, and clerics from the oldest Islamic learning institute, Al-Azhar, have condemned the Islamic State saying it was violating all Islamic principles and laws, describing it as a danger to the religion.

Do Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, ISIS and ISIL belong to true Islam

President Barack Obama channeled George W. Bush.  The former has assembled a grand coalition to fight a new Middle Eastern war.  According to Forbes only President Obama acted without legal authority and stuck the U.S. with most of the work.

President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office of the White House Monday, November 10, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to Forbes Contributor Doug Bandow the Islamic State is evil, but the organization’s raison d’etre is establishing a Middle Eastern caliphate, or quasi-state, not terrorizing Americans.  In fact, grabbing territory provided the U.S. with a target for retaliation in response to any attack, something lacking with al-Qaeda and its many off-shoots.
But are the aims of Al-Qaeda and Islamic State not going further, hoping to convert the whole world to the Islam and having one world regime under Islamic Law?

U.S.A. Secretary Jeh Johnson said:  “We know of no credible information that ISIL is planning to attack the homeland at present.”

Two weeks ago President Barack Obama did try to make a broader point when he uttered

 "Let’s be clear: While this group may call itself the “Islamic State,” it is not “Islamic.”c,"

which made that several Americans and critics on Twitter quickly fired off on the President for making the assertion, with many noting that ISIL in fact stands for the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant." 

What Obama said in his prime-time speech Wednesday night September 10 can be found in ISIL will find no safe haven where the president rightly accuses those who just kill innocent people and destroy also Islamic heritage not to be people who live according the rules of the faith they say to defend. Why would they rape and kill other Muslims if they are real faithful Muslims and how can it that they bomb, burn and destroy Qurans, whilst in case Western people would do such a thing they would call for a fatwa and shout for murder of that person.

Muslim political, religious and social commentator regularly appearing on British television and radio presenter Mohammed Ansar also know as a leading public advocate against extremism, has tackled both international terror threats and domestic far right radicalisation. Mohammed is well known for his advocacy for Muslim civil rights and is outspoken against Islamophobia. Mohammed became the focus of international attention when he was named at the top of terrorist organisation Al Shabab's most-wanted list. In spite of this, Mohammed has continued to speak out publically against the rise of terror and extremism, and to promote peace and tolerance amongst communities. Mohammed advocates a return to an authentic Islamic enlightenment as part of the Muslim revivalist and spiritual reformational movement.

For him there is no doubt that in these coming days, global Islam, almost a third of humanity, will unite across all forms of division, in the worship of one God. But to have Islamic State being part of that true worshipping community seems to be a bridge too far. Many today still have no idea that Islam is the completion of the religion which was revealed to mankind through a single line of Prophets.

On the 11° of September he tweeted:

 ISIL is not Islamic, says prime time @BarackObama (and virtually every Muslim and reasonably educated person on the face of our planet).

Also for Ameena Jandali, the Content Director for Islamic Networks Group ( ING), a non-profit organization that counters prejudice and discrimination against American Muslims by teaching about their traditions and contributions in the context of America’s history and cultural diversity, while building relations between American Muslims and other groups, it is clear there is something wrong in the attitude of those Jihad fighters. 

this year, hajj will take place against the ugly backdrop of a group that has come to represent the antithesis of what the pilgrimage signifies: Unity through diversity, brotherhood and equality, and the sanctity of religion, its symbols and holy places.

For Patheos and Time he writes:

As ISIS sends another two hundred thousand Muslim Kurds fleeing into Turkey after terrorizing Christian, Yazidi, and other populations for months, millions of pilgrims in Islam’s two holiest cities are gathered to peacefully commemorate Abraham, the father, not only of Islam, but of Judaism and Christianity.

Jandali points to the other major theme of hajj which is the interconnectedness of humankind, which is demonstrated by the simple white pieces of cloth which all male pilgrims wear during the duration of the hajj, no matter from where in the world they come.

Jandali continues:

Especially at this holy time, the stark contrast between the lofty goals of the religion and the actions of groups like ISIS, Boko Haram and others who make a mockery of Islam with their brutal and merciless behavior is a painful reminder that religion is not about terminology or slogans. Rather, true religion is explained in a saying of the Prophet Muhammad,
“I was only sent to perfect good character.”

I also think when we see and hear what those fundamentalists do that they do too many things which are against the idea of Quran and certainly against the Words of God like we know them. Seeing how they treat other Muslims makes us think and wonder what their real motives are. There we clearly can see that power and making an own state is the major mover. In case the incentive would be to make a sacred Islamic State than they should accept all Muslim brothers and sisters as part of the people united under the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. In case their ideas, motives are really funded on the believe they should spread the true belief in One God, they would not destroy such books like the Quran, which would and should be a Holy Book for all Muslims.

In my article Not true or True Catholicism and True Islam I go deeper into this matter and show more reasons why Islamic State (IS) is not a real true Islamic Movement.

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Please do find to read:

• Obama's Needless War Against The Islamic State Puts Americans At Risk: Washington Should Let ISIL's Neighbors Defeat The Caliphate-Wannabe
• Not true or True Catholicism and True Islam
• ISIS is the Antithesis of Hajj, the Holy Pilgrimage
• Public not informed enough about Jihad terrorism in Belgium
• Quran versus older Holy Writings of Divine Creator

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• ISIL IS NOT ISLAMIC? -OR- IS ISIS Really ISIL or ISISn't It? (pumabydesign001.com)
  In Todd’s view, calling the group “ISIL,” or the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, avoids the direct reference to Syria in “ISIS.” And since the Obama administration had mostly tried to keep the idea of fighting the group in Syria off the table, they wanted to keep that specific reminder out of the group’s name. With the president’s speech to the nation last week, that inclination may have shifted, but either way, at this point the administration is committed to the term “ISIL.”
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  No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state; it was formerly al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq
• Good Question: Is It ISIS, ISIL, Or The Islamic State? (minnesota.cbslocal.com)
  Surveys have shown these names can cause confusion about the terrorist group that split off from al-Qaeda and has taken over large parts of Iraq and Syria.
  So, Cindy from Eagan asked: Why do we call the same group different names?
  “The whole acronym debate comes because we’re trying represent what is really an Arabic set of terms,” said Mark Berkson, a professor of religion at Hamline University.
  The Arabic term is Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham. Al-Dawla means state, Al-Islamiya means Islamic and al-Iraq means Iraq.
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  given the vast, vast majority of Muslims reject this group, some Muslim scholars have suggested not calling it an Islamic state at all. They say call them what they are: Al-Qaeda separatists in Iraq and Syria, or QSIS.
  “The important thing to understand here is that this won’t become a widely used acronym, but that these words have important meaning, symbolic meaning,” Berkson said.
  
  
• Once Again... Barack Obama Lectures ISIS on Proper Islamic Behavior (Video) (thegatewaypundit.com)
  ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.
  +
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  #YouKnowYoureProgressive if you think you can lecture #ISIS on Islam! #ObamaSpeech #Fail #FailureInChief #DemocratMeansPeace
• 'ISIL Is Not Islamic'? Is Obama Completely Insane? (sgtreport.com)
  The stated goal of these religious radicals is to establish an Islamic caliphate which will be governed by a single supreme Islamic leader known as a khalifah.  The law in the caliphate will be Islamic sharia law, and anyone not willing to convert to the form of Islam practiced by the Islamic State will be either killed or persecuted intensely.  But because of Barack Obama’s extreme political correctness, he simply cannot admit that the Islamic State has anything to do with Islam.  As a result, he continues to pursue policies that will not solve anything in the Middle East and at this point our foreign policy in the region is a total joke.
  +
  Abby
  September 12, 2014 at 7:16 am · Reply
  Well… I have to agree with him. It isn’t.
  Most Muslims around the world are horrified at what ISL is doing and they will tell you that this is not Islam.
  We all know that ISL has been trained in Jordan by the CIA, is funded by Saudi Arabia and in recent disclosures, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a trained actor and is actually an Israeli agent.
  As a number of people have pointed out, ISL attacks Christians and there is a deafening from Christian communities in Europe and in the USA, and it does not attack Israel.
  More recently is it being revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood and their attempt at over throwing Egypt is in lock step with ISL and Saudi Arabia. They were going to hand over the Sinai to Hamas, which in turn was started by Mosaad. The Muslim Brotherhood was also being funded by Obama and Clinton.
  The objective is, the creation of Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates River, including Syria, whilst Saudi Arabia will head and Islamic Caliphate across North Africa and the southern regions of Iraq and Iran.
  The other main objective of CIA, Mosaad and ISL, is to obliterate all Orthodox Christians from the whole area. This, under the Muslim Brotherhood when they controlled Egypt also included a war with Ethiopia, 80% Christian, Orthodox and also one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. In Iran by comparison, Jews and Christians are protected, as they are under Asaad in Syria. Iran has the largest community of Jews outside of Israel.
  Muslims , both Sunni and Shia will tell you that the actions of these people go against the very fundamentals of Islam. These people are MKULtra mind controlled and trained covert military operatives. So Obama is actually right, they are not Islam.
  
• Obama Puts Americans at Risk: ISIL's Neighbors Should Eliminate the "Caliphate" (cato.org)
  Washington has never had much success in fixing the Middle East. The United States has been bombing Iraq since 1991. ISIL would not exist but for America’s 2003 invasion.
  Washington has been battling al-Qaeda since 2001. While the national organization is largely kaput, the group has spawned multiple national off-shoots.
  The Bush administration justifiably overthrew the Afghan Taliban as punishment for hosting al-Qaeda. But 13 years of nation-building has been far less successful.
  Three years ago, the Obama administration declared that Syria’s Bashar al-Assad had to go. Since then, “moderates” have lost ground. The Islamic State’s capture of the city of Raqqa created a base for attacking Iraq.
  
• How could a group called 'Islamic state' not be Islamist? (israelmatzav.blogspot.com)
  He lost me when he referred to ISIS as ISIL, thus undercutting their view of themselves as a routinely Islamist imperialist venture which views not only Iraq and Syria as part of their future "Caliphate," but one which includes Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the disputed Palestinian territories—and perhaps Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Emirates--as theirs to command.
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  If there are currently fewer Christians and Yazidis, not to mention Kurds, in the cross-fire, (let's not forget the Christians of Lebanon or Egypt at the hands of Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood), it is only because those who could, fled long ago or were just forced to flee and now swell the ranks of refugees living on the edge, far, far greater in number than the poster-children among refugees, the Palestinians.
• 'ISIL Is Not Islamic'? Is Obama Completely Insane? (dcclothesline.com)
  because of Barack Obama’s extreme political correctness, he simply cannot admit that the Islamic State has anything to do with Islam.  As a result, he continues to pursue policies that will not solve anything in the Middle East and at this point our foreign policy in the region is a total joke.
  +
  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, is calling himself “Caliph Ibrahim” these days.  And his public statements leave no doubt about what the group is trying to do.  Here are just three examples…
  #1 “Allah likes us to kill his enemies and make jihad”
  #2 “The establishment of a caliphate is an obligation. The religion cannot be in place unless the sharia (law) is established.”
  #3 “God gave your mujahedeen brothers victory after long years of jihad and patience… so they declared the caliphate and placed the caliph in charge”
  
• ISIL, ISIS - Now QSIS? Top Sunni Cleric Says Stop Calling Terrorists 'Islamic' (cnsnews.com)
  One of the Arab world’s top Sunni authorities launched a campaign Sunday urging media to drop all names for the group that incorporate the word “Islamic,” in favor of “al-Qaeda separatists in Iraq and Syria” (QSIS).
  Dar al-Iftaa (“the House of Fatwas”) in Cairo, headed by Egyptian grand mufti Shawki Ibrahim Allam, has launched an Internet-based campaign aimed at distancing Islam from the group known variously as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, or simply Islamic State.
  The campaign includes the launching of a Facebook page entitled “Call it Qa’ida Separatists not Islamic State,” and calling for people to post messages or video clips opposing ISIS terrorism.
  “This page aims at clarifying the tarnished image of Islam across the globe due to the terrorist group’s horrendous act of attaching the name of Islam to their appalling acts which could not be justified under any religion or creed,” Dar al-Iftaa said.
  “Muslim and non-Muslim thinkers across the world are invited to post their opinions, videos and posts against Qaeda Separatists.”
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Te late hulp voor Syrië uit Westen voedingsbodem voor Vechters voor een Islamitische Staat

In april 2013 liet de leider van Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, weten dat ISI en al-Nusra zouden samenvloeien tot "Islamitische Staat in Irak en de Levant" (ISIL) later het ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham). Al-Nusra verzette zich tegen die fusie en kreeg daarvoor ook de steun van Al Qaeda dat officieel afstand nam van ISIS.  Vreemd genoeg bleken meerdere groepen op bepaalde ogenblikken samen te werken tegen de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad en zijn regeringstroepen en op andere ogenblikken gingen ze tegen elkaar in het verweer.

State of Al Qaeda in Iraq (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Na Al Qaeda is er nog een veel sterkere groep van fundamentalistische islamieten ontstaan.
De meer radicale afsplitsing van Al Qaeda is gaan ijveren voor een Islamietische Staat (IS) die zij zelfs uitgebreid willen zien over de gehele wereld.

De VS heeft vroeger strijders gesteund die tegen de Sovjet-Unie in Afghanistan wilden vechten. Onder die strijders bevond zich ook de Jordaanse strijder al-Zarqawi Enkele gefrustreerde Baathisten (oud-partijleden van de vroegere leidende Baath-partij in Irak) en ex-soldaten van Saddam Hoessein verenigden zich in de rebellengroep JTNR onder leiding van al-Duri. De JTNR zelf beriep zich op het soefisme – een mystieke stroming binnen de islam – en toen Fallujah onder vuur lag, stuurde het sjiietische Mhadi-leger van Muqtada al-Sadr hulpgoederen naar de belegerde stad. Soennitische betogers droegen vaak ook portretten van de sjiietische opstandige leider. In de hoop tweedracht te zaaien tussen de verscheidene Islamitische groeperingen gaven de Amerikanen dan eens de ene dan weer een ander groep.

Toen het Westen echter niet snel genoeg ingreep in Syrië verloren veel mensen hun hoop in het Westen en vonden voedsel en steun bij de fundamentalistische Islamieten die zo almaar meer aantrek vonden.

Dat de de alawieten, een aftakking van sjiitische islam de Syrische veiligheidsdiensten vast in hun greep hebben veroorzaakt een "diepe afkeer" onder de islamistische soennieten in Syrië.

Onder het Assad-regime waren christenen, druzen, Koerden, sjiitische moslims en Turkomannen in staat in relatieve vrede te leven zonder te worden vervolgd, zoals dat in andere landen in het Midden-Oosten voorkomt, maar nu wordt de toestand alsmaar delicater. De sterke fundamentalistische groep die vermoedelijk steungelden krijgt van Saudi-Arabië, wil een etnische zuivering doorvoeren en aanschouwt elke andere strekking daar haar denkwijze als des duivels. Het is ongelofelijk dat zij zelfs eeuwen oude (prachtige) moskeeën vernietigd. Men kan zich daarbij vragen stellen waarom deze cultuurhistorische gebouwen voor het nageslacht niet meer bewaard mogen worden.

Duidelijk is het dat het hier eigenlijk om een duidelijke patstelling gaat betreft het eeuwenoude conflict tussen sjiieten en soennieten. Het Baath-regime van Bashar al-Assad bevriend met het religieuze bewind in Iran en de radicaal sjiitische militie Hezbollah in buurland Libanon, indien het omver geworpen zou worden zou de Hezbollah marginaliseren en de Iraanse invloed in de regio sterk terugdringen. Dat verklaart ook waarom Saudi-Arabië, grote rivaal van Iran, tegenstanders van het Syrische regime financiert, waaronder groepen die gelinkt worden aan het terreurnetwerk Al Qaeda.

De Koerdische Volksbeschermingseenheid (YPG) heeft in deze strijd de ultieme kans gezien om haar volk over de grenzen heen weer op te roepen tot Koerdisch bewust zijn en tot het verenigen tot een Koerdische Staat (Koerdistan) wat het nu zeer moeilijk maakt voor het westen wie zij gaan steunen. Indien zij deze Koerden nu van wapens voorzien is er een gevaar dat diezelfde manschappen die nu in bondgenootschap met het Westen tegen de ISIS of IS vechten zich later tegen Turkijë, Irak en Syrië zullen keren om de Koerdische gebieden op te eisen.

Ondertussen wordt het nu hoog tijd dat het Westen er ernstig gaat over denken hoe zij de gewone burgerbevolking in die regio kan beschermen tegen de meedogenloze strijders, die ook al beweren zij in naam van Allah (God) te vechten, naar believen kinderen martelen en doden, meisjes en vrouwen verkrachten, verkopen als slaven, martelen en vermoorden.
De VN maakten maandag bekend dat minstens 2000 vrouwen en kinderen in Irak zijn ontvoerd door extremisten. De missie van de VN in Irak (Unami) heeft meldingen gekregen van vrouwen van wie de kinderen zijn afgenomen door IS en van vrouwen die aan strijders zijn gegeven als slavin.

Van het vele filmmateriaal dat de westerse schermen bereikt is het duidelijk hoe leden van de Islamitische Staat jong en oud tracht over te halen bij hun 'bescherming' te zoeken en met hun mee te strijden tegen de 'goddelozen'. In de beelden zien wij ook zeer jonge kindsoldaten.

In Syrië en Irak vinden er wreedheden plaats op onvoorstelbare schaal .


Ook journalisten die normaal trachtten een neutraal objectief beeld te schetsen, zoals James Foley en Steven Sotloff werden als waarschuwing naar het Westen, voor de camera op gruwelijke wijze het hoofd afgesneden met een dolk. Opmerkelijk is dat de dader waarschijnlijk een Britse rapper is uit London.

De extremistische beweging de Islamitische Staat (IS) heeft nu, met behulp van allerlei Islamitische organisaties en ook Europese recrutanten grote delen van het noorden van Syrië en Irak veroverd.
Tegen die jongeren uit diverse EU-lidstaten die naar Syrië zijn getrokken om mee te vechten aan de kant van de extremisten moeten de individuele Europese landen streng optreden. Het gaat niet op dat zij hun burgerschap nog houden en daarbij nog werklozensteun of zelfs bijstand van de openbare onderstand verkrijgen.

Men mag het niet al te licht opnemen hoe deze jongeren geradicaliseerd zijn, eerst en vooral onder invloed van imams die hier werkzaam zijn en oproer prediken en ook uit het land zouden moeten gezet worden. Indien men niet tijdig optreed zal men zien dat aan verscheidene kampen verkeerde en onjuiste informatie de wereld zal ingestuurd worden. Nu al kan men zowel islamitische als christelijke websites vinden war haat tegenover elkaar wordt gepredikt en onwaarheden over de heilige geschriften (Koran en Bijbel) worden verteld. Die valse berichten en onkruidzaden zullen de Westelijke gemeenschappen verzieken waardoor er bepaalde mensen op verkeerde ideeën zullen gebracht worden en zullen overgaan tot ook hier aanslagen te plegen.


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Aanvullende lectuur:

1. Burgeroorlog in Syrië
2. Dossier Burgeroorlog in Syrië
3. Alles over Burgeroorlog in Syrië (Het Laatste Nieuws)
4. 100 sprekende beelden over twee jaar oorlog in Syrië
5. Syrische rebellen, Afghanistan aan de Middellandse Zee?
6. Voor- en tegenstanders van het regime in Syrië
7. Obama richt zich tot IS: "Recht zal geschieden"

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• ISIS behead another American journalist Steven Sotloff
• Israel Reveals That Steven Sotloff Was Also an Israeli Citizen
• Syria: Friday Demonstrations
• Thousands of Iraqis flee as militants seize 'Christian capital'
• Of fanaticism and Yiddish
• Syria Media Roundup (August 15)
• Female genital mutilation Fatwa in Northern Irak

The world Having to face a collective failure

These last few days we not only have seen how ISIS or the fighters for IS destroyed the treasures of culture and unashamed pitiless killed thousands of innocent people and animals. In many countries at the south half of this world several tribes bring suffering to each other and make it that millions of peopel have to flee for the violence.

The West can only look how she is not able to bring a solution in those war-countries. It only can note a collective failure. It also does not manage to get a good working international refugee regime.

Without addressing these inadequacies and putting other policies and strategies in place, the World Food Programme and UNHCR also faces a crisis with a $186 million funding gap.

The UN refugee agency and the World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday warned that funding difficulties, compounded by security and logistical problems, have forced cuts in food rations for nearly 800,000 refugees in Africa, threatening to worsen unacceptable levels of acute malnutrition, stunting and anaemia, particularly in children.

Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, the United States Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, addresses volunteers at the Earth Day Tri-Mission Community Project in Rome, Italy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin and UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, at a meeting with government representatives in Geneva, made an urgent joint plea for US$186 million to allow WFP to restore full rations and prevent further cuts elsewhere through December 2014. For its part, UNHCR needs US$39 million for nutrition support it provides to malnourished and vulnerable refugees in Africa.

"Many refugees in Africa depend on WFP food to stay alive and are now suffering because of a shortage of funding," Cousin said. "So we are appealing to donor governments to help all refugees – half of whom are children – have enough food to be healthy and to build their own futures."

Across Africa, 2.4 million refugees in some 200 sites in 22 countries depend on regular food aid from the World Food Programme. Currently, a third of those refugees have seen reductions in their rations, with refugees in Chad facing cuts as high as 60 per cent.

Supplies have been cut by at least 50 per cent for nearly 450,000 refugees in remote camps and other sites in the Central African Republic, Chad and South Sudan. Another 338,000 refugees in Liberia, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Ghana, Mauritania and Uganda have seen their rations reduced by between five and 43 per cent.

In addition, a series of unexpected, temporary ration reductions has affected camps in several countries since early 2013 and into 2014, including in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon. Some cuts were also due to insecurity that affected deliveries.

"The number of crises around the world is far outpacing the level of funding for humanitarian operations, and vulnerable refugees in critical operations are falling through the cracks,"

said Guterres.

 "It is unacceptable in today's world of plenty for refugees to face chronic hunger or that their children drop out of school to help families survive,"

he said, calling for a rethink on funding for displacement situations worldwide.

A joint UNHCR-WFP report issued in conjunction with today's Geneva meeting says that refugees are among the world's most vulnerable people and warns that reductions in their minimum rations can have a devastating impact on already weakened populations.

Many refugees arrive in countries of exile already in urgent need of emergency nutritional care. Lacking any means to support themselves in many host countries, they remain totally dependent on international assistance – sometimes for years – until they can return home or find other solutions. Generally, WFP tries to provide 2,100 kilocalories per refugee per day.

Guterres warned that while a sustained 60 per cent reduction in rations would be catastrophic for refugees, even small cuts can spell disaster for undernourished people. The impact, especially on children, can be immediate and often irreversible. Undernutrition during a child's first 1,000 days from conception can have lifelong consequences, compromising both physical growth and mental development. Numerous studies have shown that this "stunting" leaves affected children at a severe social and economic disadvantage for the rest of their lives.

Even before the most recent ration cuts, refugees in many of the camps surveyed were already experiencing unacceptable levels of malnutrition, despite some progress over the past five years in improving nutrition standards. For example, a programme to prevent and treat micro-nutrient deficiencies has helped to slow or even reverse rising malnutrition rates and associated problems in some areas. But the current shortfall now threatens to negate even those hard-won gains.

Nutritional surveys conducted between 2011 and 2013 showed that stunting and anaemia among children was already at critical levels in the majority of the refugee sites. Only one of 92 surveyed camps, for example, met the agencies' goal of fewer than 20 per cent of refugee children suffering from anaemia. And fewer than 15 per cent of camps surveyed met the target of less than 20 per cent stunting among children. The surveys also showed that acute malnutrition levels among children under five years of age remain unacceptably high in more than 60 per cent of the sites.
Refugees hit by the food shortages are struggling to cope, posing a host of additional problems as they resort to what the report calls "negative coping strategies." These include an increase in school dropouts as refugee children seek work to help provide food for their families; exploitation and abuse of women refugees who venture out of camps in search of work; "survival sex" by women and girls trying to raise money to buy food; early marriage of young girls; increased stress and domestic violence within families; and increasing theft.

The end result, the report says, is a

"vicious cycle of poverty, food insecurity, deterioration of nutritional status, increased risk of disease, and risky coping strategies. Therefore, improving livelihood opportunities and food security is paramount to break this vicious cycle, and ensuring that previous investments and advances in nutrition and food security are preserved."

In addition to urging donor governments to fully fund the refugee food pipeline, WFP and UNHCR are also encouraging African governments to provide refugees with agricultural plots, grazing land, working rights and access to local markets to promote self-sufficiency among refugees. Given the unpredictability of funding, the agencies are also refining their methods of prioritizing those affected by possible cuts to ensure that the most vulnerable are identified and receive the help they need.

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Please do find:

850 Calorie Challenge

850 calories is just not nearly enough…for lunch!

Speak Out for Refugees in Africa

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• UN relief officials issue urgent appeal as food shortages hit 800,000 refugees in Africa
• Aid agencies seek assistance as food shortages hits 800,000 African refugees
• New thinking needed on food aid for refugees in Africa
• African refugees face cuts in rations as funding runs low - UN
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• As food shortages hit 800,000 African refugees, UNHCR and WFP issue urgent appeal

ISIS, Mosul Dam and threatening lives of those who want to live in freedom

Flag of islamic state of iraq (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The day before Yesterday the National Flemish Television (VRT) did not want to show the video of Islamic State (IS) [formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS] with the terrible beheading of the American journalist James Foley. The commercial television programs showed some parts of it, but not the beheading itself.
Hearing the voice of the hangman we could notice his English accent which would not be found by a real Arabic. This could give us the impression that the American white man was killed by an European (white) man. For a second time James Folley had been abducted in 2012, this time by the extremist group ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State. We can imagine which torture he had to endure and may wonder why he agreed to tell the world it is all the fault of the Americans, when he did, not the IS terrorist were going to kill him anyway. The executioner stayed standing straight and wanted to prove it is serious business with IS going for America and its allies. By threatening to do the same to another American journalist in Syria, identified as Steven Sotloff, the 50,000-strong Islamic militant group wants the Obama administration to meet its demands. The extremists want to intimidate the Obama administration into halting U.S. airstrikes on ISIS strongholds in Iraq. These airstrikes seem to be impeding ISIS’ultimate objective: to maintain and expand its self-declared caliphate.

The extremists have already seized large parts of Iraq and Syria, taking control of several of the towns’ main resources, like wheat and oil fields. Having those bases or strongholds of water and fuel provision in their hands will give them enough power to prove to the world they are a real state to be taken serious. Previously having seized the largest dam in Iraq, controlling the water supplies over a very big area, made them a feared competitor for the regional politicians. Already some governments gave already in and did not mid buying water and fuel supplies from IS. But by having the U.S. and Iraqi forces successfully regaining control of the Mosul dam, IS felt weakened again.

Kurdish forces claim they have recaptured the Mosul Dam on Monday. - Reuters

Iraq's largest dam (fourth-largest dam in the Middle East), built in the 1980s not being any more in the hands of IS they can not use it as a weapon to hold back electricity or water, or can not destroy it to flood lots of land and wreaking havoc. According to the BBC the United States recently spent $27 million to shore up the dam.

If ISIS breached the dam, or if it somehow failed, it could send a 65-foot wave of water crashing into Mosul and floodwaters could reach as far as Baghdad. "A catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam would result in flooding along the Tigris River all the way to Baghdad," a 2006 report from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction warns. A failure of the Mosul Dam could kill 500,000 people. {International Business Times: Mosul Dam: Why The US Aided Kurdish Forces To Recapture Strategic Structure From ISIS}

I did not see the video, because I did not watch television companies which do not take notice of 'decency'. There has to be a certain decorum for bringing news. Respectability and 'dignity' should be on the agenda. I also have no urge to be presented with images of grotesque violence on a daily basis. Since the wars in Syria and Gaza this seems to be daily food.
Do the newspapers and television-stations remember that when they bring a portrait in view, the death person or the broken body of a child was someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s friend? Are they aware that in this world of modern technology, were so many people can be easily connected, there can be a high chance some family member may be confronted with a family member, even before he or she got the news from official sources?
Also Foley’s parents saw the latest awful images of their loved one. They were courageous to tell the world about their children, having had more worries about their two sons fighting as a soldier, than fearing for the one who was trying to bring news from both sites so that the world could get to know what really happened.

In a way IS cuts down the possibility to have her voice in the free world, because they themselves cut down the strings of free speech and make it that other journalists would not be eager to come to tell ISIS their story. IS also makes it that more and more they, but also the Islam, comes in a bad footlights.

At last in the UK some imams and the spokesman of the Islamic Woman Rights spoke out yesterday on the Breakfast show, telling the world that IS does everything against Islam and misuses the name of Allah. In many more countries Muslims should come to defend their faith. The imam also asked faithful Muslims to be aware that they could do much more for their faith in their own democratic counties where they also could vote for the right persons and have their voice heard much more than by going to fight in Syria. The IS militants and all Muslims should wonder what good it would do by threatening people with murder and rape to get them converting to the Muslim faith. Are they not aware that doing conversions under threat, like happened already in the past with Catholicism and Islam, got those religions infected with false teachings and pagan actions or heathen rites. In case they would like to have a pure faith they better would live according to their Holy Scriptures and try to convince others by their good example. violence is and always has been the wrong way to get somewhere and had always turn the ball against themselves like the boomerang always returns.

The hydroelectric power plant at Mosul Dam with four surge tanks in background (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By its actions IS also pushes the west in providing the Kurds with food and water-supplies but also with weapons. These weapons later can be used to make the Kurds stronger in getting their rights and invading Turkey and Syria to get their own state Kurdistan which they already should have had. At the moment the moment the Kurds are one of those people who are still not recognised in their own rights. They still are the largest ethnic group without a country of their own. When IS tries to put them in such corner that they shall have no other way to come out fighting their way to freedom, they shall see in that the opportunity to make an end to them having to live across the borders of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey and parts of the former Soviet Union. Their culture and identity have been oppressed by the regimes of the nations within which they live. Religion, language, culture and perhaps, most importantly, a common history of persecution tie together the more than 20 million Kurds worldwide. Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government says:

"I offer my condolences to Mr Foley’s family and the American people. They have lost a brave son who wanted to document the horrible aspects of war and conflict and shed light on their human costs."

The Prime Minister Barzani told yesterday (21 August 2014) the Christian leaders that international coalition is needed to defeat ISIS and made a plight of internally displaced people. Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi arrived in the Kurdistan Region to express his country’s support for the KRG and its fight against the terrorists.

 

The Kurdistan Regional Government would like to express its gratitude, appreciation, and indebtedness to President Barack Obama for taking the timely decision to provide airstrikes against the forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group that was killing, hunting, and terrifying innocent people in Kurdistan as well as Iraq's ancient minorities

  Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani yesterday welcomed Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, the European Union’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Kristalina Georgieva, and a number of European Union officials to Kurdistan to review the current crisis. On Monday, President Barack Obama said the American operation has helped drive ISIS from strategic cities and infrastructure in northern Iraq, which apparently angered the Muslim militants. Today we see journalists trying to cover conflicts, having to face they being silenced by the ones who create the conflicts. The man in black, wielding a knife, on the video, asked God to cross the “cosmic reach of the universe” and soothe his family. The ISIS militant said:

“Any attempt by you, Obama, to deny Muslims liberty and safety under the Islamic caliphate will result in the bloodshed of your people.”

Lots of Islam fundamentalists do not seem to see that in many Western countries lots of freedom is given to Muslims and other religious people, but that in those countries where there is worked on democracy, they try to have all people getting the free choice to have whatever religion they want to keep unto, or if they want to be an atheist to give them that freedom not to worship any god. In the war which is going on around the borders of Syria and Iraq it is clearly not about religion, because even brothers and sisters who have faith in Allah and use the Koran, are often not considered to be of the right faith. Like Obama points out:

“Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, and for what they do every single day.”

At last we can hear some more Muslim voices condemning what IS does. Muslims were among the first to lament Foley’s killing and have repeatedly condemned ISIS’ reign of terror in Iraq and Syria. They are victims, too, of the crimes committed in the name of Islam. Many have worked tirelessly to combat them. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, said in a video released in June:

“Do jihad in the cause of God, incite the believers and be patient in the face of this hardship.”

As Kurdish forces, called Peshmerga, were succeeding in halting ISIL’s advance through Kurdistan as well as in the Diyala province to the south, the ISIL commander Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, from the al-Bu Badri tribe, left his headquarters in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul around Aug. 10 and fled from Iraq to neighbouring Syria as Iraq and the United States intensified air strikes on IS positions. This leader indoctrinates the people telling them he is the wali (leader) who presides over them and who will bring the best of things to their life. “Caliph Ibrahim,” the name Baghdadi took when the group declared on June 29 a “caliphate,” a pan-Islamic state last seen in Ottoman times in which the leader is both political and religious, asks the people to let him know when he is doing wrong. But nobody would dare to being afraid to be killed. According to the Guardian, of all the prominent jihadi leaders, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), is among the most mysterious and described by some as "the new Osama bin Laden". And his mystique – for now at least – has only been burnished by his group's capture of the city of Mosul. His words:

“If you see that I am wrong, advise me and put me on the right track, and obey me as long as I obey God.”

are just hollow phrases, because I would think he should have heard already enough from real honest Muslims who tried to show the world the truth of Islam. There is at least no mystery about what Baghdadi wants concerning an Islamic State. the way he wants to get those believes reality are going totally against Koranic believes.

It may be a good idea for many Muslims to be able to live in one state where they are free to do all that their belief demands. He therefore wants to bring the world's Muslims living under one Islamic state ruled by sharia law, the first step of which is establishing a caliphate spanning Syria and Iraq. After Al-Qaeda the western world may see again an Islamic warrior threatening free democratic principles. After the French military delivered heavy weapons, Kurdish Security Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Halgurd Hikmat said:

“We are still waiting for more weapons from our allies.”

As the west shall feel the need to provide such weapons to halt IS, they shall have to be aware they also give the opportunity of the Kurds to go on to fight for getting recognition and having their own state. A danger looming.

For sure the West certainly has to take care that Islamic youngsters may come to see and understand that in the West they also shall find enough chances to liberally fulfil their duties like Allah asks from them. A democratic system may give more equal rights to all sorts of people and all sorts of religions. In case their religion is the right one and other religious people would not be able to live under Allah, they should not fear if they keep to the Laws of Allah, because than they would be able to be safe. But when they are going to do things which endanger their acceptance for Allah they should be more careful, because they could be worse off than the irreligious. The religious leaders of the Islamic world should come out and let the world see their true face. If their will is to follow Allah the world should have nothing to fear and they will recognise the faithful by their words and deeds. But the unfaithful to God shall be unmasked. The imposters hall soon be imposed.

In the meantime the European Union is very clear: In the Statement by the Spokesperson on the murder of US journalist James Foley is said:

"We strongly condemn the outrageous murder of the US journalist James Foley by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. We express our sincere condolences to the family of this distinguished journalist, to his friends and colleagues. This brutal act, like the many other human rights violations which are perpetrated by the Islamic State, denies universally recognized values and rights, including the freedom of press for which Mr Foley had risked his life on several occasions. The EU will continue to promote the safety of journalists in the Middle-East and worldwide. Such forms of terrorism constitute one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. The EU is more committed than ever to support international efforts to fight terrorism, to combat human rights violations and to restore the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria. The EU will use all means at its disposal to contribute to this endeavour."

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The Kurdistan regional government emblems

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Note:The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)—also known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq or AQI—was the Iraqi division of the international Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda. Al-Baghdadi was announced as leader of the ISI on 16 May 2010, following the death of his predecessor Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in a raid the month before.

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 Please find also to read:

1. Religions and Mainliners
2. Patriarch Abraham, Muslims, Christians and the son of God
3. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #3 Of the earth or of God
4. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #4 Mozaic and Noachide laws
5. Mocking, Agitation and Religious Persecution
6. Christian fundamentalism as dangerous as Muslim fundamentalism
7. Turkey a wolf in the sheep house of the European Union
8. Migrants to the West #1
9. Migrants to the West #2
10. Migrants to the West #3
11. Migrants to the West #4
12. Migrants to the West #5
13. Migrants to the West #6
14. Catherine Ashton on the EU annual report on human rights
15. Palestine, Israel, God’s people and democracy
16. Gaza in Bible Prophecy
17. Syrian capital facing total destruction in the coming months
18. Brunei introducing a raft of tough sharia punishments
19. Female Imams Blaze Trail Amid China's Muslims
20. Religion, fundamentalism and murder
21. Will Islam conquer europe
22. Consequences of Breivik's mass murder
23. Falling figures for identifying Christians
24. American atheists most religiously literate Americans
25. Muslim Grooming (Rape) Gangs and Sharia
26. Forced marriage and Islam
27. Abu Hamza is gone, but Britain is still a hotbed of radical hatred
28. Zionism occupierAn Ex-Muslim’s Open Letter
29. Facing disaster fatigue
30. Fear of God reason to return to Holy Scriptures

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Other websites to look at:

1. Akakurdistan
2. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Islamic State's driving force
3. Tag Archives: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
4. ISIS Leader Calls For War
5. ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi Trained by Israeli Mossad, NSA Documents Reveal
6. The Biography Of Sheikh Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi
7. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: The Isis chief with the ambition to overtake al-Qaida
8. James Foley 'beheaded': Isis video shows militant with British accent 'execute US journalist' – as hunt begins for killer
9. James Foley and the daily horrors of the internet: think hard before clicking

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• ISIS Watch ( August 21 , 2014 ) - Certainly seems as if ISIS is being hyped as the latest danger to the Globe ! If an attack occurs here in the US , the stage has been set for ISIS to be the villian..... (fredw-catharsisours.blogspot.com)
  ISIS was trained by the best – the United States military. Hagel, as Secretary of Defense, should certainly be privy to this.
  Its military hardware, as well, is courtesy of the Pentagon.

  “They marry ideology and a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well funded. This is beyond anything we have seen,” Hagel told reporters.

  ISIS is funded by America’s supposed “allies” – Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
• Iraq: Kurdish forces retake parts of largest dam (dailystar.com.lb)
  Militants told residents of the dam area to leave, an engineer who works at the site and often comes into contact with the Sunni insurgents.
  The engineer at Mosul Dam, Iraq's biggest, said Islamic State militants told him they were planting roadside bombs along roads leading in and out of the facility, possibly in fear of an attack by Kurdish fighters who have been bolstered by U.S. airstrikes.
  Peshmerga spokesman Halgurd Hikmat said U.S. planes - deployed over Iraq for the first time since the U.S. troop withdrawal in 2011 because of the Islamic State's alarming advances - had been striking targets near Mosul Dam over the last 24 hours.
  "God willing we will regain control of the dam today," he said.
  Witnesses said Kurdish forces have recaptured the mainly Christian towns of Batmaiya and Telasqaf, 30 km (18 miles) from Mosul, the closest they have come to the city since Islamic State fighters drove government forces out in June.
  
• U.S. warplanes, Kurdish forces strike ISIS targets (edition.cnn.com)
  U.S. military forces used "a mix of fighter, bomber, attack and remotely piloted aircraft to successfully conduct airstrikes near the Mosul Dam" on Sunday, according to U.S. Central Command.
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  "The failure of the Mosul Dam could threaten the lives of large numbers of civilians, endanger U.S. personnel and facilities, including the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and prevent the Iraqi government from providing critical services to the Iraqi populace," it continued.
• Iraq says Kurds advance in retaking Mosul dam - CBS News (cbsnews.com)
  Officials told CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata that the peshmerga have not only started closing in on the dam already, but it appears ISIS fighters have begun withdrawing from some surrounding villages.
  Their withdrawal has not been simple, however. Officials tell D'Agata ISIS fighters are believed to have booby-trapped the road leading to the dam with explosives, slowing the peshmerga fighters' advance.
  
• Fight for world's 'most dangerous' dam (edition.cnn.com)
  "If that dam was breached it could have proven catastrophic, with floods that would have threatened the lives of thousands of civilians and endangered our embassy compound in Baghdad," the President said.
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  "This operation demonstrates that Iraqi and Kurdish forces are capable of working together and taking the fight to ISIS," Obama said. "If they continue to do so, they will have the strong support of the United States of America."
• Terror Spree: Who Are the Extremists That Killed Foley? (nbcnews.com)
  . Foley’s execution, now confirmed by the U.S. government, gives ISIS the exposure it craves while inciting jihadists with its bloodthirsty campaign of destruction.
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  Some were forced to flee to Mount Sinjar, where the U.S. earlier this month dropped food and water to the stranded. Those in refugee camps told NBC News that they witnessed the shootings and beheadings of innocent people — including children — and the rape and capture of women. Other reports have victims being buried alive.
  The Christian minority in Mosul has also described being run out by ISIS. If they wanted to stay, they had to convert to Islam or pay a tax, they told NBC News. Otherwise they would be killed.
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  The execution of Foley, who went missing in Syria in November 2012 and who the U.S. tried but failed to rescue, appears to be in retaliation for the latest wave of American airstrikes targeting ISIS in Iraq. But the dissemination of the video falls in line with a larger public-relations campaign. ISIS has previously posted recruitment videos featuring its fighters — some claiming to be citizens of Western countries such as the United States, Britain and Australia — urging others to join the group’s ranks.
  ISIS has been successful at using online platforms, including Twitter and YouTube, to draw attention and encourage others to join the group's cause. At one point, the ISIS hashtag jumped from about 1,000 hits before its Iraq invasion to between 30,000 and 40,000 hits on some days, a researcher with the International Center for the Study of Radicalization in London told NBC News.
  
  
• Obama: 'No Just God Would Stand For What' ISIS Did To James Foley (washington.cbslocal.com)
  President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the entire world is “appalled” by the brutal death of American journalist James Foley, who was shown in a video released by the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq being beheaded.
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  “We will be vigilant and we will be relentless,” adding that “justice will be done” to those that captured and killed Foley.
  Foley’s Family: ‘We Implore The Kidnappers To Spare The Lives Of The Remaining Hostages’
  “People like this ultimately fail because the future is won by those who build and not destroy,” Obama said.
  
• U.S. hits ISIS; Foley captors asked millions (wdsu.com)
  Foley's captors demanded 100 million euros ($132.5 million) in exchange for his release, according to an official with GlobalPost, the U.S.-based online publication the freelance journalist was working for at the time of his abduction in Syria in 2012.
  GlobalPost "never took the 100 million seriously" because ransoms paid for other hostages being held by ISIS, which refers to itself as the Islamic State, were "dramatically less," Philip Balboni, president and chief executive of the news agency, told CNN.
  Balboni said the amounts paid previously for hostages released was between 2 and 4 million euros. "So we thought that something in the range of $5 million was probably the right amount to pay for the ransom," he said.
  
• Rescuing Islam: Meet The Heroic Moderate Muslims Who Are Condemning The Brutal Nazism Of ISIS (feelguide.com)
  The Islamic extremist group ISIS is killing, raping, and brutalizing its way through vast swaths of Iraq, Syria, and the Middle East at large.  The group’s recent beheading of American journalist James Foley not only demonstrated ISIS’s appalling disregard for human life, it also reveals to the world their biggest hostage of all — Islam itself.  With no central Pope-like authority to control any divergent interpretations of its belief system, Islam can be taken to extremes with no one around to ostracize the fanatics.  Nowhere is the danger of this scenario more self evident than the growing threat of ISIS.  Even Al Qaeda has disowned ISIS, believing the group’s behavior and tactics to be far too brutal.  In the ruins of Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound, a 21-page letter was discovered which carefully worded Al Qaeda’s concern about ISIS.  The Independent reports: “Lying among a pile of papers at the hideout in Pakistan where Osama Bin Laden was shot dead was a carefully worded 21-page letter. It warned of the rise of a new and ruthless group of Islamic extremists capable of such extreme brutality that Al Qaeda should sever all links with them. In fact, it claimed the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (or ISIS) had such complete disregard for civilian life that it could damage the reputation of Al Qaeda – if such a thing were possible for an organization that has long traded in murderous terrorism.”
  Among ISIS’s most disturbing acts of barbarism has been the besieging of thousands of Christians stranded on a mountain top in northern Iraq — threatened to death if they refused to either convert or leave the country.
• Foley killing 'a message to London' (edition.cnn.com)
  
  Propaganda films from ISIS -- the Sunni militant group that has seized large tracts of land in Syria and Iraq in recent months -- regularly feature British recruits to demonstrate the group's capacity to influence young Muslims living in Europe. Earlier this week another threatening video from ISIS featured a group of jihadists speaking with British accents as they interrogated a Japanese hostage. Some of them weren't even hiding their faces.
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  The beheading of Foley was staged as a "Message to America," but it constituted a direct warning to Britain. It served as a reminder that the killing of a young English soldier Lee Rigby on the streets of south London by two home-grown jihadists last year was not an isolated event.