(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)

Gee, you mean other than the Kurds the administration can’t actually locate the Syrian “moderates”?  Ya don’t say…

(CNSNews.com) – An Islamist rebel group that has been fighting both the Assad regime and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) said Thursday that its base in western Syria had been targeted in an overnight U.S. airstrike.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, made the same claim about a strike on the headquarters of Ahrar al-Sham in Idlib province. (more…)

This is a pretty sobering statistic.   Last week in response to continued terrorist attacks in the Sinai region, Egypt began to widen the border between Gaza and Egypt.  A “buffer zone” is being built and homes on the border are being removed.  A “border wall” is currently being considered.
So far around 200 homes have been bulldozed or destroyed as Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi and his government begin the process.  Of the 200 homes removed, 78 have been found to house tunnels from Egypt into Gaza, that’s 39%.  These tunnels are used by Hamas to smuggle arms and rockets into the Gaza strip – the target of the rockets is Israel.

EGYPT – North Sinai Governor General Abdel-Fattah Harhour said owners of houses on the border line with the Gaza Strip will not receive any compensation for their demolished houses if smuggling tunnels were discovered inside their homes.
“The number of these homes whose owners will not receive compensation is 78, no compensation because these houses have smuggling tunnels,” he told local CBC television.
On Wednesday, the army began demolishing homes along the border line with the Gaza Strip to create a buffer zone which aims at preventing weapons smuggling. (more…)

LIBYA – Dozens of residents of a town in eastern Libya have pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of Islamic State militants fighting in Syria and Iraq, according to a video and a resident.
Around 50 young people could be seen in a video posted on social media gathering in Derna to support Baghdadi, who calls himself “caliph”, or Muslim leader, of Islamic State, an Al Qaeda offshoot.

A Derna resident confirmed the authenticity of the video, taken late on Friday. (more…)

(Via FOX NEWS) A Mexican judge has freed jailed US Marine Andrew Tahmooressi, his family said late Friday.

Tahmooressi, 26, who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, has been held since March 31, when he said he mistakenly crossed into Mexico with three legally-purchased and registered guns in his truck.
A court-appointed psychiatrist confirmed that Tahmooressi has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Family spokesman Jonathan Franks said the judge released him without making a determination on the charge against him. (more…)

Trust me, the headline makes more sense than Josh Earnest who has also found a new category, “civilian government“.

Spare yourself a few moments by forwarding the video to @1:30 and watch/listen.

Notes: Why is the media avoiding the obvious?
The Italian government forced Major General Darryl Williams into quarantine, along with his entire staff, yesterday upon his return from Africa. In addition Spain and Germany stated they would force all U.S. military into quarantine on bases in their respective nations. No media has questioned the white House about this yet.
The U.S. Army responded to the Italian, German and Spanish quarantine threat by discussing an overall U.S. Army quarantine as it relates to returning service members.
It appears the entire construct of the Military Quarantine is simply to avoid sunlight on three ally nations who have given President Obama and the U.S. the back of their hand.

This is an evolving situation which the White House is desperately trying to get their arms around control.   Currently the White House messaging to the U.S. media is an effort to sell the quarantine proposals as a U.S. Pentagon/Military decision/non-decision about quarantining soldiers who return from West Africa missions.  
However, it appears that specific angle’s narrative is driven as a needed cover story for DoD Secretary Hagel, and the Joint Chiefs – because  Italy, Spain and Germany  have told our military personnel (returning from Africa) they will face forced quarantine in their respective base countries.

WFB […] Major General Darryl A. Williams, who was appointed head of the U.S. command center in Liberia that coordinates the response to Ebola, was isolated along with several other Americans over the weekend, CNN reports.
The General’s “plane was met on the ground by Italian authorities ‘in full CDC gear,’” a U.S. official was quoted as telling CNN.
Williams and the others will now be monitored for 21 days at a U.S. military compound in Italy, according to the report.

The Italians forced U.S. Major General Williams into quarantine.

You can see the problem for the White House.  Our military forced to quarantine in other countries while President Obama is advocating exactly the opposite, and allowing everyone to come willy nilly in the U.S. 
To cover the dichotomy and try to avoid the conflict, the Joint Chief’s are debating a new rule forcing all of our military into quarantine.  This would change the dynamic to give the appearance of a decision made on our part and not forced by other nations, upon us.
However, such a rule might avoid the international optic but it would conflict with the White House.  How can the White House advocate for non-quarantine of West African healthcare workers, based on human rights violations, and yet force our military into the same quarantine. (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…)

Compare and contrast against Oklahoma beheading and President Obama’s refusal to admit terrorism.

IRAQ – At least two mortar shells landed inside Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone on Tuesday as insurgents continued their recent wave of attacks on the Iraqi city.
Security officials told the Associated Press no casualties were reported inside the Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government headquarters and the U.S. and British embassies.
The officials said one of the mortar shells fell about 500 meters from the U.S. embassy building… (more…)