EGYPT – Under increasing pressure from the military, Egypt’s deadliest jihadist group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State organisation in a bid to boost recruitment and bolster its fight against the army, analysts say.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) has waged an insurgency from its Sinai Peninsula stronghold that has killed scores of Egyptian police and soldiers since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year.
In response, the army has launched a huge operation in Sinai targeting jihadists and last month began building a buffer zone on the border with Gaza to stem the flow of militants and weapons from the strip. (more…)

The concept of bullion gold dinars and silver dirhams has long been part of the ethos of those who struggle to re-establish another “Golden Age of Islam” and a modern age pan-Levant Caliphate.
This belief system is deeply held and always simmering below the surface in Islamic majority nations. An entire rumor industry sprung forth that Gaddafi’s demise was due to his declared intention to issue pan-African bullion gold dinars and silver dirhams and his political statement that Libya would begin rejecting fiat currency (ie: “Petro dollars”) as payment for Libyan export oil sales as part of a long standing desire to – if not outright undermine, – then at least chip away at, – the global economic hegemony of the US.
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Keep in mind this is CBS, who is the employer of Ben Rhodes brother, CBS President David Rhodes.  Meaning, the edits -which are obvious- and the construct of the interview itself is designed to broadcast President Obama in the “best possible” light.
Despite all the ideological advantages from having your image protected by the national news media, several aspects within the interview itself show what’s going on behind those eyes:

RE: Iraq – Schieffer Should we expect more troops will be needed?
Ans: “As Commander and Chief I’m never going to say “never””…
(more…)

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday authorized the U.S. military to deploy up to 1,500 additional troops to help train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants, the White House said.

The White House will ask Congress for $5.6 billion for the operations in Iraq and Syria, which includes $1.6 billion for the new “Iraq Train and Equip Fund,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said.  (link)

Almost worse than my severe disdain for President Obama’s short-sighted political decisions, is my supernova level dislike for the U.S. media who refuse to call him to task.... almost.   To retain my own personal sense of center I have tried to remove the word “hate” from my psyche, but it’s hard, really, really hard, right now…. can you just imagine the Fallujah ROE with Obama coordinating from the White House! 

(h/t Weasel Zippers – Via Hot Air) Fallujah. Ramadi. Haditha. Americans know the names of the cities and assets in Iraq’s Anbar Province well. Their liberation was paid for in American blood. […]
“U.S. advisers currently operate in areas around Baghdad and Irbil in the north of the country,” CNN reported. “The new proposal would put U.S. troops in the middle of some of the most violent situations in Iraq.”

U.S. officials maintain that Iraqi support for Sunni tribes going on the offensive against ISIS will be a necessary part in the effort to defeat the militants, who are also called ISIL and refer to themselves as the Islamic State.
In a news conference with reporters Thursday, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Joint Chiefs chairman, signaled the possibility of the new role when he said the Iraqi government had not yet requested U.S. military support in efforts to defend a Sunni tribe that has suffered mass executions at the hands of ISIS militants.

“That’s why we need to expand the train-advise-and-assist mission into the Al- Anbar Province,” Dempsey said. “But the precondition for that is that the government of Iraq is willing to arm the tribes. […] (more…)

Allow me to present the counter point after John Kerry’s initial point:

(CNSNews.com) – Secretary of State John Kerry argued Thursday that the United States cannot push its weight around in a changing and “complicated” world, and implied that the previous administration having done so had led to today’s security crisis in Iraq.
In an appearance at the Washington Ideas Forum, Kerry said that although the Obama administration wanted to see a less sectarian government in Iraq – a prerequisite for tackling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) threat – it could not have simply demanded that former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki be replaced.
“The United States couldn’t just crash in and say, ‘Hey, you’re out. Here are the guys that are in.’ That’s not our – it would be playing into all of the worst stereotypes that have brought us to the difficulties we’re living with today.”  (link)

Here’s the counter point:

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Last week a U.S. journalist, Serena Shim, was murdered in Turkey for exposing the truth of Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan allowing and facilitating ISIS militants going to and from Turkey into strategic positions around Kobane (Kobani).
Now an independent journalist team have used video to show Turkish police and military meeting with ISIS militants on the Turkish border.

Obviously the brutal reality of this expose’ is dangerous to Erdogan’s deceptive claims to the contrary. (more…)

We were wondering why the White House put out last week’s meeting of the National Security Council so quickly – they never do that, ever.  Reading this lengthy Politico article the urgent optics now make sense…. there’s always a reason with this crew.

(Via Politico) When President Obama, after months of equivocation over how to respond to the takeover of parts of Iraq and Syria by radical militants, announced in September that the United States would “lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat,” the White House swung quickly into action, sending proposed legislation to train and equip Syrian rebels to Capitol Hill that same day.
Unfortunately, the White House failed to consult with the Pentagon—which would be doing most of the rolling back—on the timing or details of the announcement. (more…)

You can CLICK PIC to enlarge or visit BIGGIE HERE 

President Barack Obama, with Secretary of State John Kerry, participates in a secure video teleconference with Embassy Baghdad and Consulates General Erbil and Basrah, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., Oct. 24, 2014 (Via WH Flickr)

2:23pm Gotta’ Love The Crew:  Skippy = Bored; Rice = “fer realz?”; Lew = Dazed; Johnson = ‘eh, meh’; Brennan = Friday (drinks soon); Power = Drifting off thinking about the upcoming trip to Ebola world “why me”?

Unless something happens quickly to change the on-the-ground dynamic there doesn’t seem like any positive outcome in protecting the key Iraqi infrastructure from ISIS control…
IRAQ – Iraqi army tanks and armored vehicles on Wednesday fought off an advance by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants on the town of Amiriya Fallujah, west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, army sources said, part of a multinational effort to check the group’s progress.

The sources added that around 400 fighters amassed in the nearby towns of Fallujah and Karma the day before, piling pressure on the capital’s western flank.
Government forces fought back ISIS outside Amiriya Fallujah – which faced a siege by the militants for much of this month and is the last government-controlled town before the key provincial city of Fallujah. (more…)