(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…)

Those who have followed the month long fight for Kobane know what’s really behind the reversal in Turkey’s position. Quite simply the Kurds in Kobane have outfought ISIS, outmatched the jihadists, and outlasted the insufferable pressure from both ISIS and the Islamic State’s ideological ally, Recep Erdogan.
Turkey, a NATO member, could no longer stand in the sunlight of the world’s scrutiny, and the pressure upon Sunni President Erdogan was building. Having just suffered an embarrassing defeat in a bid to gain a U.N. Security Council seat Erdogan reverses position and allows Turkish Kurds to go and defend their sisters and brothers in arms.

MURSITPINAR, Turkey — Turkey said Monday that it would allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to cross its border into the besieged Syrian town of Kobane, where Syrian Kurds are battling Islamic State militants.
The opening of a land corridor would be another potential boost for the Kobane defenders following U.S. airdrops of weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to them late Sunday.
But the deal, the subject of intensive U.S. diplomatic talks over the past week, also depends on whether the separate Kurdish groups can resolve their deep differences in the interest of confronting a common enemy. (more…)

This is considered a staggering, albeit splendid, defeat considering Turkey was anticipated to be a shoo-in for a non-permanent U.N. Security Council seat.

Previously Turkey had claimed letters of support from 160 countries. However, the actual voting by secret ballot showed they only had 60 countries who supported their bid. The needed threshold is 128 supportive votes. Spain won the seat with 132 votes of support. New Zealand is the other contested victor who won in a previous ballot.
As Newsweek reported: “[Last] Wednesday night, Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, hosted a posh party for diplomats at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, where many of the guests predicted an easy victory for Turkey“.
Apparently the ‘pinky swear’ diplomats partook of the ritzy digs; but when push came to shove they knew their ballots would be secret so they ditched the Turks who have become more and more unreliable as Sunni Islamist President Erdogan pushes Turkey further and further into radical Islam. (more…)

The overall progress in the Kobane (Kobani) campaign has been moving towards favoring the Kurds in the last 4 days. The reporters and observers all seem to hold the same opinion – the fierce Kurdish women fighters -within the Kobane resistance- are the reason for the success.

Click images to enlarge

Additional coalition airstrikes have also been helpful in stopping ISIS forces from re-supply. A key tactical strategy which benefits the Kurdish forces and equalizes the fight.
SYRIA BBC – The Islamic State (IS) militant group has been driven out of most of the northern Syrian town of Kobane, a Kurdish commander has told the BBC.
Baharin Kandal said IS fighters had retreated from all areas, except for two pockets of resistance in the east.
US-led air strikes have helped push back the militants, with another 14 conducted over the past 24 hours. (more…)

Reminder – healthcare workers in Liberia are now on strike.

Pres Obama signs Exec Order authorizing use of Reservists to assist in US Military mission building Ebola treatment centers in West Africa.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 16, 2014

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