H/T to Sharon.
From Twitchy:
Yesterday, reservist Nathan Cirillo was murdered while guarding Canada’s National War Memorial. Today, Halifax Chronicle-Herald cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon paid tribute to Cirillo — in an absolutely gorgeous way:
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…)
Compare and contrast against Oklahoma beheading and President Obama’s refusal to admit terrorism.
Two of the teen girls, sisters ages 15 and 17, were of Somali parents. The other girl was of Sudanese parents. They were intercepted in Germany and returned home. Colorado Muslims are shocked, shocked, to hear of the recruitment. Yeah, surprise… they never got to the part of the perpetual beekeepers outfits..
DENVER (CBS4) – Three Colorado teenage girls are back home with their families after flying overseas allegedly in an effort to join the terror group ISIS. The girls are between the ages of 15 and 17 and an acquaintance of their families says they attend Overland High School in Aurora.
As their cross-continent trip makes national headlines, the head of the Colorado Muslim Council says the news comes as a surprise.
“I was shocked because, according to our prediction we thought that the boys were easy targets. To our surprise the girls were easy targets,” council chairman Hafedh Ferjani told CBS4. (more…)
This comes on the heels of two Canadian soldiers being targeted Monday by a radicalized Islamist who attacked with his car. In today’s attack rumors have indicated a second or third shooter, however at this time only one is confirmed.
(CANADA) A Canadian soldier is dead after being shot at a Canadian National War Memorial by a suspect who was killed as he stormed the Canadian Parliament, officials said. (more…)
Lost amid the reality we must bathe ourselves in chlorine to avoid upsetting the delicate sensibilities of West Africans is the invisible policy discussion of an illegal war being carried out in Syria.
President Hopey Changey has proclaimed both The War Powers Act, and a 2002 congressional authorization (AUMF) intended against al-Qaeda in Iraq, as the baseline for his legal approach to bombing in Syria.
Apparently, we are to ignore the fact the War Powers Act expired after 30 days, and the AUMF was never granted for Syria.
Of course the actual legal route would require congressional leadership to actually do, well, you know, leadership-type things. Currently neither Senator Turtle, nor the House Crier are willing to interrupt election season -or tanning appointments- to put Syrian authorization measures in front of the peoples representatives for a vote.
Unfortunately those pesky details are not lost on Russia, who reminded Secretary Ketchup as such during a recent chat.
Only in 2014’s fundamental change world does our President put constitutional types in a position where we actually end up in agreement with our arch nemesis, Russia.
(CNSNews.com) – Russia is not a member of the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition because its military actions are “paradoxical” and not in line with international law, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this week. He pointed out that the coalition and Russia were arming opposing sides in the Syrian civil war. (more…)
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…)
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…)
The Kurds battling for Kobane (Kobani) continue to request resupply and additional weapons from the U.S. and Turkey. However, neither President Obama nor President Erdogan have done anything to provide reinforcements for the Kurdish fighters.
Despite their isolation, and with assistance from airstrikes in the surrounding terrain, Kurdish fighters have been able to recapture strategic locations from ISIS control.
SYRIA – Kurdish fighters have launched an unlikely comeback against Islamic State terrorists besieging the Syrian town of Kobane, amid claims the resistance forces have now reclaimed swathes of the city.
Images this morning showed Kurdish YPG soldiers triumphantly raising their flag above Tel Shair hill in the west of the city, where ISIS’ own black jihadist flag had recently been flying.
Assisted by sustained U.S. and Arab airstrikes, the massively outgunned Kurdish troops have managed to do what looking impossible only a week ago – force ISIS to abandon strategic locations in the west of Kobane and pin them back elsewhere in the city.
(more…)