ISIS jihadists have declared the captured territories from Iraq’s Diyala province to Syria’s Aleppo a new Islamic State – a ‘caliphate.’ They removed ‘Iraq and the Levant’ from their name and urged other radical Sunni groups to pledge their allegiance.
ISIS announced that it should now be called ‘The Islamic State’ and declared its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as “the caliph” of the new state and “leader for Muslims everywhere,” the radical Sunni militant group said in an audio recording distributed online on Sunday.
This is the first time since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923 that a Caliph – which means a political successor to Prophet Muhammad – has been declared. The decision was made following the group’s Shura Council meeting on Sunday, according to ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani. (link)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A U.N. expert panel has concluded that a shipment of rockets and other weapons that was seized by Israel came from Iran and represents a violation of the U.N. arms embargo on Tehran, according to a confidential report obtained by Reuters on Friday.
The finding comes just days ahead of the next round of negotiations in Vienna between Iran and six world powers aimed at securing a deal that would gradually lift international sanctions on Tehran — including the arms embargo — in exchange for curbs on the controversial Iranian nuclear program.
Despite Israel’s public statements that the seized arms were destined for Gaza — an allegation that Gaza’s governing Islamist militant group Hamas dismissed as a fabrication — the experts said the weapons were being sent to Sudan.
The experts do not speculate in the report about why the arms were being sent to Sudan, a country which Western diplomatic and intelligence sources have told Reuters has in the past been a conduit for Iranian arms shipments to other locations in Africa, as well as the Gaza Strip. (more…)
Marie Harf is rapidly making a name for herself. Unfortunately it might not be quite the name she had in mind.
Always proud of @statedeptspox; she deals in facts #attacksareabadgeofhonor
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) June 8, 2014
Rand Paul talks to Candy Crowley and outlines what we have been saying. I’ve got a hunch that Rand Paul knows about Operation Zero Footprint – – – his soft poking, under the guise of questions about sending arms to Turkey, at Hillary Clinton in 2013, was a shot across her bow letting her know that he knows what she doesn’t want anyone to know…..
…. I also think Rand Paul knows how valuable this knowledge is; and he has made the political decision to hold it back as a deadly arrow in his 2016 quiver in the hopes she is the Dem candidate. Think about it.
Watch:
(Via Politico) There’s always Tunisia. Amid the smoking ruins of the Middle East, there is that one encouraging success story. But unfortunately for the Obama narratives, the president had about as much as to do with Tunisia’s turn toward democracy as he did with the World Cup rankings. Where administration policy has had an impact, the story is one of failure and danger.
The Middle East that Obama inherited in 2009 was largely at peace, for the surge in Iraq had beaten down the al Qaeda-linked groups. U.S. relations with traditional allies in the Gulf, Jordan, Israel and Egypt were very good. Iran was contained, its Revolutionary Guard forces at home. Today, terrorism has metastasized in Syria and Iraq, Jordan is at risk, the humanitarian toll is staggering, terrorist groups are growing fast and relations with U.S. allies are strained. (more…)
IRAQ – The Iraqi military ran out of Hellfire missiles six days ago, and though the U.S. is rushing more missiles into the country, Iraq has only two modified Cessna aircraft to launch them in their battle against the radical Islamic militia ISIS.
ISIS has captured 28 tanks and shot down three helicopters, a significant percentage of the government force, and the militia killed an entire Iraqi Security Force brigade in the last couple of days at the border with Syria, which ISIS now controls.
The losses have left the Iraqi military with no offensive capability, and no real air force.
With the brigade at the border at Al Qaim wiped out, ISIS now controls the territory from Rubiya to Al Qaim. The tribes in Al Qaim tried to fight them, but ISIS unleashed a major artillery barrage, then a major assault, and they could not hold the back.
(more…)
Hopefully by now you’ve been able to digest the revelations within “Operation Zero Footprint“. If not, you might want to read this first before continuing.
The substantive issues with Khattala surround known associations in the lead up to September 11th 2012, and the almost simultaneous issues in Egypt around President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The explosive events in Egypt and Libya, leading up to the night of the Benghazi attack, cannot be detached from each other because the Islamist participants in the events are inherently linked.
Where the real story forks is how the Libyan crisis evolves immediately after the Benghazi attack on 9/11/12. That’s where the arms shipment(s) to Syria via Turkey become the primary problem for the administration.
While Ahmed Abu Khattala carried out his role in the operation in Libya, he is of Egyptian origin and speaks with an Egyptian dialect. His ideology and associations spring from the Muslim Brotherhood.
Top Row: Muhammed al-Zawahiri, Abu Khattala, The Blind Sheik
Middle Row: Cairo Protest 9/11/12 for Blind Sheik release, Egyptian President Morsi
Bottom Row: Morsi with Kerry, Morsi with Hillary, Morsi with Bill Clinton
I’m working on tying it all together so people can have a greater understanding of what role Khattala played not only in the Benghazi attacks, and why he was such a central figure to the Benghazi State Dept./CIA operatives, but how he was such a central figure in the years previous to carrying out the Ansar Al Sharia operation. (more…)
WASHINGTON DC – President Barack Obama told Capitol Hill’s “Big Four” leaders Wednesday afternoon that he doesn’t intend to seek congressional authority for any action in Iraq.
Returning to the Capitol after huddling with Obama at the White House for about an hour, both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the president had pledged to keep Congress in the loop. But McConnell said that the president won’t ask lawmakers to weigh in on whatever course of action he chooses.
“We had a good discussion,” McConnell said, adding that Obama “indicated he didn’t feel he had any need for authority from us for steps that he might take. And indicated he would keep us posted.” (more…)
WASHINGTON (WSJ) —President Barack Obama decided against immediate air strikes on marauding Sunni extremists in Iraq, opting instead to pursue strategies such as providing intelligence to the Iraqi military, addressing the country’s political divisions and seeking support from regional allies.
Mr. Obama will convene a White House meeting Wednesday with Republican and Democratic leaders from the House and Senate to brief them on what officials call this new comprehensive approach. (more…)