Tag Archive for: Islamic State

Sorry, America Cannot Defeat Islamic Terror Groups

Americans have big hearts and for well over 200 years Americans have been patriotic and would stand up for their country whenever and wherever the threats against us exists.  Times have changed.  We now have millions of people in America who have no allegiance to our country.  We have millions of American citizens who will support Hamas and ISIS before they would even think of supporting their own country.

When I write articles such as this and make strong statements like, ‘We Can’t Defeat Islamic Terrorists”, it is based on my experience in analyzing threats against our country for over 3 decades. This is what the American government paid me to do.  When we wrote our intelligence reports we did it in a bullet statement style.  There was no room for beating around the bush.  We provided our analysis based on the facts we had.

I have not changed the way I analyze Islamic terrorist intelligence I have obtained.  We have media actors and actresses who can and will entertain the public for hours on end.  They get paid, I do not.  I belong to no organization, corporation, and I am no longer under the rules of the U.S. government.  This is why I call it like it is and often have been criticized from the left and front simultaneously.

For many years I have been stating the only way we can win a war on Islamic terrorism, is to target the Islamic ideology instead of putting our resources into fighting dozens of Islamic named terror groups around the world.  We need to begin stating Islam was founded by a child rapist (Mohammed). Islam is violence, hatred, and intolerance and nothing has changed in Islam for over 1400 years.  What we see done daily by the Islamic State (ISIS), Al Qaeda, Boco Haram and others is the practice of pure Islam as Mohammed desired.

We can kill every Islamic terrorist and almost immediately millions more will fill their places.  There must come a time when innocent people around the world will cringe when anything Islamic is mentioned.  The Islamic ideology must be considered no better than Hitler’s ideology.  If this ever becomes a reality we then have a chance of saving America Islamic.

I am sure most readers are confused as to why Saudi Arabia and four other Sunni dominated countries are attacking their own (ISIS).  First they are doing so for Islam and not America. The answer is within the thousands of Islamic books produced each year by the Saudi government.  Essentially these countries fully understand the ISIS Muslims can never be defeated by simply killing individuals.  To them the ISIS terrorists who die in Syria and Iraq by their hands are doing so for the betterment of the Islamic ideology.  Saudis and the others know Islam will survive for thousands of more years as long as Islamic terrorist groups are the targets of the infidels, and not  the ideology itself.

Think about this.  Would any of the Sunni countries attack their brothers in Syria and Iraq if the U.S.told them the true enemy of America and Israel is the Islamic ideology and killing ISIS members is only the beginning.  The destruction of Islam itself is the final goal of America.  These Sunni countries would have never agreed to stand by with the U.S.  The Saudi’s know the ISIS members are simply collateral for the overall survival of Islam.

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A screen shot from ‘Flames of War.’ The American narrator of the film is on the far left.

Please keep in mind the very basics of Islam being carried out by groups such as ISIS are also the beliefs of every Muslim who practices Islam.  The Muslims in America who attend mosques services in America are taught:

  1. Islam is the only true religion (ideology)
  2. Prophet Mohammed taught Muslims that all Jews and anyone who supports the Jews are enemies.
  3. A caliphate covering the entire world is the ultimate goal Islam.
  4. All of Sharia must be adhered to for a Muslim to be a true Muslim.
  5. If a Muslim picks and chooses which parts of Sharia law to adhere to, that person is an enemy and apostate of Islam.

Destroy the Islamic ideology and the world will have peace.  Destroy individual Islamic terrorist groups and we will lose the war.  Will Obama or any politician openly denounce Islam itself?  The answer is no. Will any counter-terrorism group leader in America ever say the Islamic ideology is the enemy.  No. The only fact that will come is that America will crumble in the very near future.

Sad, but true.

EDITORS NOTE: To understand the Islamic State and how it is practicing Islam please watch this video titled “Flames of War” produced and distributed by its Mohammedan followers (WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES):

Retired Marine General: Obama’s ISIS plan hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding

About two weeks ago, President Obama laid out his ISIS strategy, and he is struggling to garner support – not only from an alliance or coalition (which is lacking, as no one is naming the countries or their level of support) – but also from senior military generals and defense officials, current and retired, who certainly know something about battle. The latest torpedo comes from a former Commandant of the US Marine Corps, General James Conway.

As reported by The Daily Caller, “The man who was the top Marine general from 2006 until his retirement in 2010 says President Barack Obama’s strategy to defeat the terrorist group, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is doomed to fail. “I don’t think the president’s plan has a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding,” retired Marine General James Conway, who served as the 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps during the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration, said at the Maverick PAC Conference in Washington, D.C. Friday, according to a source in attendance.”

You can always count on a Marine to not mince words. Then again, this is something we all knew was the case two weeks ago, when Obama delivered his 15-minute empty speech which focused more on what he was not going to do along with self-righteous indignation in dismissing ISIS’ Islamic ideology.

Another highly decorated and regarded US Marine General chimed in on the subject. As the Daily Caller reports, former CENTCOM Commander retired General James “Mad Dog” Mattis told the House Intelligence Committee, “You just don’t take anything off the table up front, which it appears the administration has tried to do. Specifically, if this threat to our nation is determined to be as significant as I believe it is, we may not wish to reassure our enemies our enemies in advance that they will not see American ‘boots on the ground.’ If a brigade of our paratroopers or a battalion landing team of our Marines would strengthen our allies at a key juncture and create havoc/humiliation for our adversaries, then we should do what is necessary with our forces that exist for that very purpose.”

Even former Obama administration Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, has confided in an interview that he was against the withdrawal of our forces from Iraq. So who does Obama listen to? Obviously not the people assigned to key national security positions. I suppose being a complete political animal means he only confides in Darth Vader’s sister, Valerie Jarrett. Of course if this were a campaign, then David Axelrod and David Plouffe would be in charge. Maybe behind the scenes, Chicago is still running our country.

We are slowly watching the demise of our nation at the hands of an egomaniacal intransigent ideologue. We will be ultimately victorious, but the pain is going to be rather intense for a period of time.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com. The featured image of Marine General James Conway is courtesy of the Examiner.

Israel/U.S. National Security Summit 2014 Trailer

Rabbi Jonathan H. Hausman small

Rabbi Jonathan H. Hausman

On Sept 9, 2014, The United West, in partnership with Rabbi Jonathan H. Hausman presented a unique national security event which featured some of America’s top subject-matter experts on the issues of Israel, Gaza, the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Obama Administration’s foreign policy initiatives.

Please watch this trailer featuring Rabbi Jonathan H. Hausman, Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West, U.S. Army (Ret.), Lieutenant  General Jerry Boykin, U.S. Army (Ret.), Lieutenant  General Tom McInerney, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), and author and former CIA Station Chief Gary Berntsen.

By early October The United West will release the full video documentary completed on this special day at this historic event. But for now, please watch this “teaser” trailer:

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The Free Syrian Army is on the wrong side. Here’s its bloody track record and disturbing alliances.

In PJ Media I explain why this plan that both Democrats and Republicans is a recipe for disaster:

6. The Free Syrian Army terrorized the Christians of the Syrian village of Oum Sharshouh.

In July 2013, Free Syrian Army fighters entered the Christian village of Oum Sharshouh and began burning down houses and terrorizing the population, forcing 250 Christian families to flee the area.

Terrible things happen in wars, of course, and the FSA’s terrorizing of a Christian village doesn’t necessarily mean that it wouldn’t be effective against the Islamic State. But given this behavior, what kind of a society might the Free Syrian Army establish in Syria, were they to come to power? Apparently not one that would secure the rights of religious minorities, for the terror attack at Oum Sharshouh was not an isolated incident…

5. The Free Syrian Army murdered Christians in the Syrian town of al-Duwayr.

Worthy News reported that just two days after the attack on Oum Sharshouh, Free Syrian Army rebels, targeted the residents of al-Duwayr/Douar, a Christian village close to the city of Homs and near Syria’s border with Lebanon…. Around 350 armed militants forcefully entered the homes of Christian families who were all rounded-up in the main square of the village and then summarily executed.

4. The Free Syrian Army is proud of its attacks on Christians.

In September 2013, a day after Secretary of State John Kerry praised the Free Syrian Army as “a real moderate opposition,” the FSA took to the Internet to post videos of its attack on the ancient Syrian Christian city of Maaloula, one of the few places where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken.

3. The Free Syrian Army attacked the Lebanese border town of Arsal in conjunction with the Islamic State and the jihadist Nusra Front.

Investigative journalist Patrick Poole reported in PJ Media that “multiple media reports indicate that the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) is operating openly with ISIS and other designated terrorist groups.”

Indeed. The New York Timesreported in August that, according to Abu Osama, a member of a Nusra Front brigade that participated in the attack, the Arsal assault was “a combined operation involving fighters from the Free Syrian Army, the Nusra Front and ISIS.” The Times was skeptical:

Abu Osama’s remarks could not be immediately verified, and such cooperation between the F.S.A., the Nusra Front and ISIS would be unusual; the groups have clashed in bouts of rebel infighting in Syria.

Screen Shot 2014-09-19 at 8.28.44 AM

2. The Free Syrian Army has admitted that it is working with the Islamic State.

The Times’ skepticism was unwarranted. Bassel Idriss, a Free Syrian Army commander, said in early September: “We are collaborating with the Islamic State and the Nusra Front by attacking the Syrian Army’s gatherings in … Qalamoun.” Perhaps aware his group is supposed to be full of “vetted moderates” who are ready to fight the Islamic State, not work with it, he added: “We have reached a point where we have to collaborate with anyone against unfairness and injustice. Let’s face it: The Nusra Front is the biggest power present right now in Qalamoun and we as FSA would collaborate on any mission they launch as long as it coincides with our values.” What mission and what values? “Our battle is with the Assad regime, and it is on Syrian lands only.”

In other words, they have no plans to go to battle against the Islamic State in Iraq, no matter what Barack Obama says.

1. FSA members have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, and handed over its weapons to Islamic State jihadis.

People love the strong horse, said Osama bin Laden, and that applies to at least some members of the Free Syrian Army. Jordan Schachtel reported at Breitbart in July that “several factions within the Syrian opposition force known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have pledged services to the Islamic State, the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Sources and eyewitnesses said that the FSA has handed over its weapons to the Islamic State in large numbers.”

Now the House and the Senate have given Barack Obama the green light to give them even more weapons, and the Senate is certain to agree. Will those, too, end up in the hands of the Islamic State?

Placing hope in and giving weapons to the Free Syrian Army to take down the Islamic State is the pinnacle of Obama’s fantasy-based policymaking. If only we had a viable opposition party in Congress – then this mad scheme might have been averted.

EDITORS NOTE: After this column was written the U.S. Senate passed the funding bill allowing President Obama to support the Free Syrian Army.

Understanding the real Gaza War in 5 Minutes

Colonel Richard Kemp, Britain’s former armed forces commander in Afghanistan, talks to Jerusalem University about the double standards in the treatment of Israel during the recent Gaza conflict.

VIDEO: Understanding Mohammedanism in 15 minutes

A Mohammedan is one who follows the teachings of Mohammed regardless of nationality, ethnicity, race, color or creed. Mohammedans are orthodox believers and follow the Quran, Hadith and Surah as Mohammed’s followers did 14 centuries ago. I use Mohammedan versus Muslim to describe those who follow the teachings of Mohammad. Mohammedans are pure Islam and follow shariah (Islamic) law.

The more shariah compliant an individual Mohammedan, Islamic organization or nation state the more dangerous and deadly.

There is much public discussion about radical Mohammedans versus moderate Mohammedans. The answer to any difference lies in this short 15 minute video showing moderate Mohammedans, those preaching violence on the street, versus those Mohammedans who carry out violence on the street.

It is critical to take a Mohammedan at his word. Not to do so is naively dangerous. To call Mohammedans peaceful is Orwellian.

Hat tip to Aya for sending us this video:

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Islamic State hoodies, flags and caps selling on Facebook, E-Bay, Twitter, Amazon.com

MEMRI reports:

Supporters of the Islamic State (IS) are now offering merchandise featuring the organization’s symbols for sale online. The items offered for sale include hats, clothing, and jewelry, all bearing the familiar black flag associated with the IS organization and its slogan – baqiyah (“will remain forever”).

One vendor, an Indonesian named Zirah Moslem, currently uses Twitter to sell his products after his Facebook page and website were shut down in June 2014. Products bearing the IS logo had also been sighted this summer in a local shop in Istanbul.

On Facebook, several pages still advertise T-shirts, baseball caps, flags etc. with the IS black flag logo, such as the “Baqiyah creation” Facebook page,  which is run by a French IS supporter based in Toulouse, France. This French salafi is a jihadi sympathizer who enjoys paintball and boxing, according to his Facebook posts. He advertises his products as being high quality and made for the true believers. He warns against wearing the clothes bearing the sacred Muslim creed of the shahada in impure places such as bathrooms. He also posts pro-IS comments and messages on his page.

Another Indonesian vendor who runs the “Al-Faruq Islamic Store” sells his products through Facebook and Ebay. One of the page’s banners on Facebook advertises: “We sell Islamic Flags, Badges, Headbands and other stuff.”

EDITORS NOTE: Screen captures courtesy of MEMRI. For a larger view click on the image.

iscapflag

ishoodies

zirahmoslemis

 

isflag

Christians strike back at Islamic State with ‘i-am-n’ campaign

The global grassroots Christian community is striking back at the Islamic State while leaders in the Christian community remain largely silent. Much to the horror of Christians in the Middle East, President Obama and some U.S. Christian church leaders continue defending Islam.

This global grassroots movement has taken on as it’s logo the Arabic symbol for the letter “n” (nun). The Islamic state is spray painting in red this symbol on homes in Northern Iraq, much as the Nazis painted the Star of David in yellow on businesses in Germany. The “n” stands for Nazarene – the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, a Christian.

nBodyImage

Source: Assyrian International News Agency.

There are many who are not familiar with this symbol, even members of Congress. In an email, Frank Gaffney, founder of the Center for Security Policy, states:​

I just left a meeting with a Senior Congressman on Capitol Hill.

The information I received from that meeting astounded me.  The first thing I’ve done is sit down and write you this email … the information is that important.

The Congressman and I were speaking about matters of national security.  The conversation naturally turned to the Islamic State (also referred to as ISIS or ISIL) and the threat it poses.  As we were talking, I explained the tragic use of the Arabic “N” on Christian houses … and the Congressman had no idea what I was speaking about.  Once I was done explaining this, he told me he was positive few Americans are aware of this as well. 

Today alone, Islamic State jihadists will kill 100 or more Christians in Iraq and Syria.  They are attempting to commit genocide against Christians.  Now, you know me.  I rarely discuss religion.  But this isn’t about religion as you’ll soon read.

The Islamic State has an efficient method to their extermination practices.  They send “scout” troops into villages who identify and mark Christian homes with the Arabic letter “N” – which is shorthand for “Nasrani,” or Nazarene: a Christian.  The commando brigade follows shortly, and offers anyone who remains in these homes the choice of convert, submit or die.  If the jihadists opt for the latter, the usual methods include crucifixion or beheading – even of children!

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VOM “i-am-n” t-shirt.

There are a number of grassroots organizations who have launched “I Am N” campaigns such Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). The VOM website asks: Are you N?. VOM notes, “Our brothers and sisters in northern Iraq have been given an ultimatum: convert to Islam, pay a high tax, leave the area or die. The terrorist group IS (Islamic State) has painted a large Arabic letter “N” (nun), from the Arabic word nasara (meaning “Nazarene” to indicate Christians), on their homes to identify them as Christians.”

ABOUT VOICE OF THE MARTYRS

The Voice of the Martyrs is now serving Iraqi Christians who have fled the terrorists by providing them with daily necessities and assessing their future needs. Many of these believers fled with only the clothes on their backs.

You can help support your Iraqi brothers and sisters by designating a contribution, purchasing one of VOM’s new i-am-n T-shirts, or both.

40 Islamic State jihadis have already returned to the U.S.

These jihadis have already effectively renounced their U.S. citizenship by joining up with the Islamic State. They have aligned themselves with an entity that considers itself to be at war with the United States, and have vowed to destroy it. They should not have been let back into the country, much less trusted to the surveillance of the politically correct and willfully ignorant FBI.

“Dem Rep: 40 American ISIL Fighters Have Already Returned to the United States,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, September 19, 2014 9:35 am

Rep. Tim Bishop (D., N.Y.) warned during a recent speech that up to 40 radicalized U.S. citizens who have fought alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL or ISIS) have already returned to the United States, where they could pose a terrorist threat.

Bishop claims that of the 100 or so Americans who have traveled to the Middle East to join ISIL’s ranks, some 40 have returned and are currently being surveilled by the FBI, according to his remarks, which were filmed and uploaded to YouTube last week.

“One of the concerns is the number of U.S. citizens who have left our country to go join up with ISIS,” Bishop said during the speech. “It is believed there have been some number up to 100 that have done that.”

“It is also believed that some 40 of those who left this country to join up with ISIS have now returned to our country,” Bishop said, eliciting shocked responses from some in the crowd.

These 40 individuals, Bishop said, “are under FBI attention and surveillance. So they are known and being tracked by the FBI.”

Lawmakers have warned that radicalized ISIL fighters could clandestinely enter the United States through the porous southern border.

U.S. officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other security agencies have said that while the southern border poses a risk, they are more concerned about lone wolf attacks in which an isolated radicalized individual with sympathy to ISIL carries out a solo terror attack.

Bishop said that while ISIL poses and extreme threat, it is not yet capable of attacking the United States, though that could change as the group grows in strength and resources.

“It is a very, very complex and very, very dangerous threat and I think the plan that the president outlined the other night [in his national speech] is a good plan,” Bishop maintained.

President Obama “is correct to recognize the threat, and it clearly is a threat to the stability of the Middle East, a region that is already remarkably unstable,” Bishop said.

“It is not yet a threat to the homeland, but there is a concern that it could metastasize in such a way that it could become a threat to the homeland,” Bishop said, echoing concerns expressed by lawmakers on both sides of the isle.

“But at the present time, the intelligence is ISIS does not present a threat to the homeland, although that is not something that will remain static going out into the future,” Bishop said, describing the regional upheaval as “more of a political conflict in the Arab world then a sectarian conflict” between Muslims.

DHS has said that while there is no evidence of a direct threat by ISIL to the United States, it is aware that the group’s affiliates have been discussing the possibility of crossing the southern border.

“There have been Twitter, social media exchanges among ISIL adherents across the globe speaking about that as a possibility,” Francis Taylor, under secretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS, told senators during a recent hearing.

Other U.S. officials also have discussed the possibility of an ISIL adherent carrying out an attack on the United States.

“We remain mindful of the possibility that an ISIL-sympathizer—perhaps motivated by online propaganda—could conduct a limited, self-directed attack here at home with no warning,” Matthew Olsen, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, said in a speech earlier this month.

“We have seen ISIL use a range of media to tout its military capabilities, executions of captured soldiers, and consecutive battlefield victories,” Olsen said. “More recently, the group’s supporters have sustained this momentum on social media by encouraging attacks in the U.S. and against U.S. interests in retaliation for our airstrikes. ISIL has used this propaganda campaign to draw foreign fighters to the group, including many from Western countries.”

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Obama sending 300 soldiers to fight the Islamic State & 3,000 to get infected with Ebola

Daily it seems the foreign policy priorities of President Obama are misguided at the least and wrong headed at worst. It appears that President Obama is more concerned with fighting Ebola in Liberia than fighting the Islamic State in Iraq.

How do we know? By the number of our soldiers he is putting at risk to address each crisis.

Fighting Ebola is not a role for the U.S. Military. That is a role for the international health community and other non-governmental organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO website states, “It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.”

The role of the U.S. Military is to close with and destroy the enemy using all means available. Fighting a pandemic in Liberia is not part of our military’s mission nor is it an existential threat to the U.S. The best way to fight Ebola is quarantine. Do not allow those infected to come to the United States.

The Weekly Standards William Kristol asks, “Aren’t there other parts of the U.S government suited to carry on this fight? If not, shouldn’t there be? Max Boot suggested building such a non-military civilian ability in the pages of this magazine over a decade ago. Surely an administration committed to smart power would have developed the civilian capabilities to fight a virus without deploying 3,000 troops?”

What President Obama is doing is exposing our soldiers to the deadly Ebola virus. These soldiers will all be returning to the United States and some of them may become infected. There is a potential for all 3,000 to be infected, as they are neither trained nor equipped to deal with this Ebola crisis.

President Obama is sending 300 soldiers, boots on the ground, to take on the existential threat of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. This is too small of a force to make any substantial difference even with air superiority. The U.S. military experience fighting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan does not equate to the threat of the Islamic State. The two theaters of operation differ in terms of terrain, enemy strength, how IS is armed and funded.

President Obama is putting these 300 in the same situation as King Leonidas did when he led 300 Spartans to hold back the Persian Army of Xerxes. A potential massacre of our soldiers.

Neither decision makes any sense militarily. Neither decision makes sense from a foreign policy perspective. The only way these two decisions make sense is from a political perspective.

President Obama wants to be both the humanitarian and war fighter. Sadly the price for his faulty decisions will be paid by our soldiers who are being put into untenable situations.

It appears President Obama is focused on November 6, 2014 and not the long term national security of the United States.

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Our Pathetic President

The first thing you need to keep in mind is that Syria and Iraq are now just lines on a map at this point. They don’t exist as national states because the former is locked in a civil war that will replace its dictator one way or the other and the latter’s alleged government is deeply divided between the usual schism of Sunni and Shiite.

More to the point, Iraq’s government is led by men who are the friends and pawns of Iran. In a recent issue of the Iranian newspaper, Eternad, an Iranian analyst commented on the new Iraqi cabinet noting that its new prime minister “enjoys Iran’s support and spend his formative years in Iran, and continued (the operation of the Islamic al-Dawa party) until the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.”

That fall was the result of the war waged against Saddam by President George W. Bush. The Iranian analyst noted that Iraq’s new foreign minister, Dr. Ebrahim Jafari “until recently lived in Tehran in Iran, and enjoyed Iran’s support in spite of his differences with Nouri al-Maleki (the former prime minister). The new Iraqi oil minister, transport minister, and minister of sport and youth were all described as “close to Iran, who either lived in Iran before, fought against the Ba’ath regime with Iran’s help, or constantly traveled to Iran.”

Iraq and Syria came into being when French and British diplomats created them as colonies following the end of World War I, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and the Treaty of Versailles.

In his September 10th speech, President Obama uttered the word “war” only once and then only to say “We will not be dragged into another ground war in Iraq.”

The speech, like everything he says, was a lie constructed to undue the truth he inadvertently admitted when he revealed “We have no strategy.”  If you do not intend to go to war, you do not need a strategy. Instead, you can pretend to the American public that the war will be fought by Iraqis and Syrians.

So far the Syrian civil war has cost that “nation” 200,000 lives and driven a million Syrians out of the country. As for the Iraqis, their military fled in the face of the ISIS forces, leaving behind the weapons we gave them. Between Iraq and Syria, ISIS now controls a landmass larger than the size of Great Britain.

In the course of the speech, Obama said he had dispatched 475 more troops to Iraq. We have an estimated 1,500 or more troops on the ground. That is barely the size of an infantry regiment, composed of two battalions of between 300 and 1,300 troops each.

Significantly, though, Obama opened the speech by reminding Americans that he had “brought home 140,000 American troops from Iraq, and drawing down our forces in Afghanistan, where our combat mission will end later this year.”

President Obama has announced he intends to send up to 3,000 troops to West Africa to help combat Ebola. He can find troops to put in harm’s way in Africa, but not to combat ISIS.

All he has ever wanted to do is to flee from our declared enemies whether they are al Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS or other Islamic holy warriors. Those numbers signal his failure to follow up our sacrifices in those two nations.

Years after World War II and the Korean War, we still have combat troops in Europe, South Korea, and on bases around the world, but he is pulling out troops in the two nations where our interests are currently threatened. He called the enemy “small groups of killers.” He claimed that “America is safer.”

He appears to think the greatest threat of our time, the holy war being waged by fanatical Muslims, can be won with air strikes and measures that do “not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.”

Fighting on foreign soil is what American combat troops did throughout the last century and into this one. They helped defeat Germany and the Japanese Empire in World War II. They stopped the communist North Korean attack on the South, but had less success in the long Vietnam War. They were successful in the Gulf wars until Obama was elected.

We have a President who has displayed a lack of leadership, a lack of judgment, ignorance of history, a cowardly approach to the threats we face, and who has demonstrated over and over again that he is a liar. His administration is likely to be judged the most corrupt in the history of the nation, indifferent to the Constitution and our laws.

Proclaiming that he “could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform”, this is a President who has engaged in dramatically reducing the size of our military to pre-World War II levels. After a two-star general, Major General Harold J. Green, was killed in Afghanistan in April not one single member of the White House attended his funeral. Obama was playing golf.

America must survive a man who many have come to believe is “the worst President” in our history. An essential stop toward that will be to defeat as many Democratic Party incumbents and candidates for office in the November 4 midterm elections. Americans—patriots—can do no less at this point.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

Obama’s plan to defeat Islamic State just ‘toothless’ platitudes

All Midshipmen and Cadets, while matriculating at one of the US Service Academies, are taught to fight to “Win” in academics, on the athletic field, and ultimately in combat—they learn that there is no substitute for victory!!

Unfortunately, the resident in the Oval Office’s plan to defeat the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL), is not a serious plan; there is no consistency, no clarity, and no obvious will to “Win”  Allies have observed that Obama is calling the world to ride to an uncertain trumpet when he is not committed to it.  The failure to execute an effective air campaign (the 150 air strikes over many weeks should have occurred on the first day of air campaign and everyday thereafter).  The repeated statements by Obama that there will be no boots on the ground, and failure of the air campaign to strike supply lines, long convoys of armed terrorists, and weapons depots in Syria has signaled ISIL that the plan is not a serious plan.

The allies have watched over the last 6 years as Obama walked away from the victory in Iraq & refused to leave a residual US military force in Iraq overriding his own generals, Obama walked away from air strikes in Syria 3 years ago when Assad crossed the red line, he took out a friendly leader in Libya then walking away from a destabilized Libya that resulted in Al Q’ieda taking over Libya, walked away from the friendly Egyptian Army Junta after it removed the Moslem Brotherhood Mosci who was killing Christians, and Obama has sent a signal that he will walk away from Afghanistan leaving it to the Taliban and Al Q’ieda—Middle East & NATO allies are not interested in joining a consortium with a quitter who can’t be trusted to “Win” anything.

U.S. air power, the Kurdish Forces, the Iraqi Army (with an anti-Sunni Government), and the free Syrian Army cannot possibly defeat the 30,000 man ISIL army which is projected to soon grow to 60,000 men (ISIL is selling $3 million in black market oil to Turkey every day to fund its military operation).  Air strikes will not be sufficient, when there is no effective command and control organization on the ground, there is no effective reconnaissance operation on the ground, when the US does not have the ability to capture combatants in order to develop actionable intelligence.  The US is planning to spend one year to train 5000 Free Syrians Army personnel, while ISIL grows from 30,000 to 60,000 in the same year.

After 9/11 the US inserted small Special Operation Units and CIA Paramilitary forces on the ground in Afghanistan to coordinate with the Northern Alliance, in order to drive the Taliban, Al Q’ieda, and Osama Bin Laden out of Afghanistan  The failure of Obama to commit small Special Operations and CIA Paramilitary forces units on the ground in Iraq is dooming Obama’s plan to failure—Obama keeps telling ISIL that there will be no boots on the ground—what other occupant of the Oval Officer in 238 years has ever told the enemy what the US will not do?.

The Obama administration continues to send confusing messages to reluctant US allies who are being asked to join a coalition to defeat ISIL, to the American people who are being asked to support Obama’s inept plan to defeat ISIL (68% of the American people believe Obama’s plan to “Win” is folly), and to Obama’s leftist allies in the Democratic Party to prevent them from being alarmed before the November election (the leftists, Socialists, and Marxists in the Democratic party do not want Obama to carry out a comprehensive “War Plan” to defeat ISIL they want to take funds away from the US military and use those funds to expand the bloated and inept welfare state rift with fraud).

Obama doesn’t have the strength of purpose to do what Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan did to protect the homeland.  Obama’s political policies are allowing ISIL terrorists to flood across the wide open southern border and threaten American citizens, while he hollows out the US Armed Forces, and creates a $1 trillion annual US deficient leading the nation to the brink of bankruptcy.

For the last 6 years, the Obama administration used drones to kill Al Q’ idea leaders who were immediately replaced by the next Al Q’ieda terrorist in line. They killed one leader after another who had a great deal of valuable intelligence, instead of employing small Special Operations units to capture the leaders, interrogate them, and develop the requisite intelligence to oppose the spread of Al Q’ieda worldwide.  The net result of the killer drone policy that the Obama administration bragged about, has been that ISIL metastasized and Islamic terrorism spread throughout the world like cancer—while the Obama administration was blinded because they lacked actionable intelligence from captured Islamic terrorists.

Obama didn’t want to capture, interrogate, and jail terrorists in Gitmo, all he wanted to do was to kill terrorists in the field so he could close the Gitmo operation.  The Gitmo interrogations developed an incredible amount of actionable intelligence, including providing the intelligence that led to the location of Bin Laden’s messenger, and that messenger ultimately led to US forces to the location of Osama Bin Laden’s lair in Pakistan, where SEAL Team SIX took out Bin Laden.

There is no Obama administration plan to pull out all the stops to “Crush” ISIL.  We encourage you to read the below listed macro approach to Crush ISIL written by the former National Security Advisor in the Reagan Administration, the Hon Robert C. McFarlane, USNA ’59, Col-USMC (Ret); he is calling for the effective employment of diplomacy, applying economic pressure, training  & support of Special Operation Forces, and not to continue following the past policy of  “leading from behind”, but to exercise traditional effective US leadership to “Win”.

Robert  “Bud” McFarlane is the Senior Advisor for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and supports the Combat Veterans For Congress.

A plan for crushing the Islamic State: Toothless diplomacy is no longer an option

By Robert McFarlane – – Wednesday, September 3, 2014

It is astonishing that nearly six years into the tenure of any administration the commander-in-chief would acknowledge publicly that he has no strategy for addressing an evident, serious threat to American interests.

Last week, marauders from the so-called Islamic State overran Tabqa air base in Syria, where MANPADS, or man-portable air-defense systems, are stored. These are the weapons that can bring down commercial aircraft. Considering the pledge of this group’s leader to take the war to the United States, they now have the means to do so whether targeting the takeoff of a U.S. commercial airliner from Dubai, or in a few weeks after penetrating the Mexican border, from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas.

Historically, every new administration spends the first year of its tenure enunciating goals — essentially, to keep the peace and establish a climate at home and abroad in which American interests can be advanced — and then developing strategies for achieving them in specific regions of the world. The process begins with the president stating his view of what our regional interests are, inviting the intelligence community and the Cabinet to identify how those interests are threatened, and then tasking these principals and staff to develop a range of integrated political, economic and military measures for defending and advancing American interests throughout the world. By the end of the first year, the president has evaluated the options submitted to him and has made decisions among them. He then goes about implementing them by publishing and explaining them to three constituencies — the American people, the U.S. Congress and our allies. While this process involves hard work and disciplined leadership, it’s not rocket science. Doing it well yields enormous benefits. It engenders confidence among the American people and nurtures cohesion and support among our allies. Finally, it puts adversaries on notice that we are a serious nation that has the will, the capability, a strategic plan and the resources to prevail against any challenge they might consider posing.

Since World War II, U.S. presidents have engaged this strategic process as a proven means for defining and announcing our interests overseas, assessing how they are threatened, and developing effective strategies designed to deter, or — if deterrence fails — to prevail in any conflict well in advance of any such conflict. In the Reagan administration, I had the privilege of managing that process, and in the ensuing years, it proved invaluable not only in identifying — and pre-empting — challenges still over the horizon, but in crisis management as well. In the remaining years of the current administration, there is still time for President Obama to lead in the resolution of the plethora of crises before us — starting with the threats posed by the Islamic State and concurrently in Ukraine, China and Iran.

Modern terrorism by Islamist groups has posed a “clear and present danger” to our country for more than 30 years. In Iraq, we are faced with an especially challenging form of it.  A well-financed, well-armed and well-trained barbarous force has declared its intention, inter alia, to conduct operations against the United States on its way to establishing an Islamic caliphate of global reach and jurisdiction.

Egypt’s Ultraconservative Islamists Back Sisi, Seek To Eclipse Brotherhood

Given the plausibility of their executing such a plan, the first comment our president must make is that this movement of uncivilized savages puts us all at risk — from Irbil to London, Chicago, Tokyo and Beijing — and that there is no basis for trying to reason with brainwashed, ideological, totalitarian, genocidal criminals bent on pursuit of an imperial strategy. The second is that they must be destroyed. Mr. Obama’s statement from Estonia on Wednesday was a good, though belated, beginning.

Developing a political, economic and military strategy for containing and then destroying the Islamic State is not something that will come easily for the president, given his proclivities toward engagement and toothless diplomacy. Yet in some respects, his task has been rendered less onerous.  Politicians in every civilized state — especially European states that have known this menace was coming for years — understand that if they don’t join in countering this scourge in Syria and Iraq, they will face it in their own countries before long.  This week, the president’s task is to forge consensus among his political counterparts in Western Europe to direct NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip Breedlove and the NATO military committee to work with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a plan for overcoming this menace.

Economically, it’s time to lean hard on the Gulf Arabs to shut down their formal and informal funding of radical Islamists. The diplomacy needed to get this done ought also to be a little easier than it would have been even five years ago. Their tenure is at risk, and they are palpably conscious of it. Separately, our work with European allies should involve closing their financial institutions to Islamist transactions.

The U.S. military must work with Kurdish, Kuwaiti, Egyptian, United Arab Emirates, Saudi, Jordanian and Iraqi forces to forge a strategy, first to contain and then to destroy the Islamic State’s forces. U.S. and allied tactical aviation can help limit the enemy’s mobility and provide fire support during engagements. However, the training and supervision of ground forces from the aforementioned countries in the struggle to regain lost territory must fall to experienced U.S. special operations advisory personnel — several thousand of them.

By their brashness and brutality, the Islamists may have provided an impetus and a window for the civilized world to come together and reverse their gains. It will take extraordinary leadership from Washington to oversee this battle and stay the course. That window may not remain open for long.

As soon as we have stemmed this tide — a year from now — we must turn to the agenda that we have for so long avoided — bringing the moderate Arabs, Kurds and Israel into a sustained conversation on regional security that leads toward reconciling their differences. To do so offers a revered place in history for the American president. Yet it will require a far better understanding of the nature of the challenge than has thus far been apparent, together with the courage and commitment to lead such an effort successfully.

ABOUT ROBERT MCFARLANE

Robert McFarlane served as President Reagan’s national-security adviser. He is currently a senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

RELATED ARTICLE:Egypt: Don’t Limit Action to ISIS; Islamists Elsewhere Share its Ideology

Obama does not acknowledge or recognize the fact that ‘Radical Islam’ exists

AA - Obama Stop ISISAs a lead into Obama’s prime time speech Wednesday he declared ISIL ‘the Islamic State’ is not Islamic. He justifies his comment that no religion condones killing innocents and that the vast majority of victims are Muslims. Obama refuses to either recognize or accept the fact that ISIL kills other Muslims, Christians and Jews because they are all infidels and are not true (Islamic) believers.

Radical Islam is a fact.

It appears Obama’s Muslim background has blinded him to reality.  It is difficult to see how as ‘commander-in- chief’ he can prosecute a war against an intractable Islamic enemy (Radical Islam) without understanding the nature and goals of the enemy.

In addition Obama says ISIL is not a State.  He is wrong.

ISIL controls a vast territory and its wealth, a caliphate. It passes laws, uses the wealth of the territory it conquered to further its malignant Statehood activities. It passes laws, jails or executes its adversaries and uses heavy weapons taken from those it defeated in war.. It is more than a hit and run terrorist organization. It sees itself as an Islamic Caliphate. These are the things that constitute a State? If it isn’t a State what is it?

It may be an evil State but it is a State – a caliphate. Unfortunately Obama doesn’t recognize the Islamic State (ISIL) for what it is.

Watch this compelling video with five experts speaking on the question – “Is the Islamic State Islamic?”

NOTE: The original propaganda video released by the Islamic State (IS, ISIS or ISIL) referred to by these five experts may be seen here (WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES): http://grid.pjmedia.com/?cmd=view-show-profile-article&id=2087

RELATED ARTICLE: 

Obama: Islamic State ‘Is Not Islamic”

Syrian Opposition Leader Attends International Counter Terrorism Conference in Israel

President Obama’s eve of 9/11 speech  in which he declared “war” on the Islamic State, formerly ISIS, contained a commitment to arm and support so-called moderate Syrian opposition to assist in “degrading and ultimately destroying” the Salafist Jihadist self-declared Caliphate. He may have been referring to the Free Syrian Army. But which Free Syrian Army (FSA)? One group has been headed by American –Syrian members of the Muslim Brotherhood who have dominated the Syrian National Council like Louay Safi with access to the White House. Moreover, as we have learned tragically, it is this Free Syrian Army, with a Supreme Military Command in Erdogan’s Ankara, that purportedly sold American Journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, who were barbarously murdered by ISIS. Those graphic beheadings deliberately conveyed on videos aroused American public opinion demanding action that prompted Obama’s televized address to the nation. This weekend, ISIS revealed another grisly beheading of British aid worker David Haines. In August 2014, President Obama had dismissed the moderate Syrian opposition as a group of “bankers, doctors and pharmacists.”

Dramatically, one leader of the “moderate” Syrian opposition Dr. Kamal al-Labwani, a veteran Syrian secular opponent of the Assad regime, surfaced in Israel this weekend at the annual International Counter Terrorism  (ICT) Conference in Herzliya. You may watch live feed of the ICT conference, here. According to the Times of Israel , who interviewed him, he is in Israel for 10-days on what Labwani described as “academic” and “exploratory” and stated he was prepared to meet with Israeli policymakers “whenever they want.”

Labwani’s attendance at the ICT conference may reflect the outreach by the other FSA led by the Syrian Opposition Coalition headquartered near embattled Aleppo composed of ex-Assad military including Alawites, Christians and Sunni tribal leaders currently battling ISIS inside Syria. My colleague Ilana Freedman estimates through her sources that there could be as many as 50,000 Syrian opposition fighters in this “other FSA.”

In our September NER, article, Did Assad and Maliki Facilitate the Rise of the Islamic State? An Interview with M. Zuhdi Jasser and Sherkoh Abbas, we noted this exchange with Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser:

Gordon:  Syria lies on Israel’s Golan frontier. What has Israel contributed to the alleviation of the plight of Syrians and has there been any relationship between the democratic opposition in Syria and the Israeli government?

Jasser:  I think that’s such an important question and the Syrian National Council, they are still slowly coming around to that view. I would ask people to look at some of the writings and comments of Dr. Kamal al-Labwani who in the past few months has come out and said we should have visited more closely with Israel and guaranteed them security on the Golan as being a mechanism by which we could actually protect some of the more moderates in Syria. He’s realizing that there was no hope for the Syrian National Council (SNC) because it was being protected by Turkey and Qatar. The Islamists, including many American Syrians including Louay Safi and others who went back to run the SNC from an Islamist Brotherhood perspective. Labwani is awakening to the fact that the West is his friend, Israel is at the head of that coalition and the Golan is part of that.

Dr. Labwani has spent ten years in and out of Assad regime jails for his activism in support of a secular and democratic Syria. Labwani lives in exile in Sweden. Adam Pechter in a Fall 2007, Middle East Quarterly profile noted Labwani’s treatment by the regime of Bashar Assad for his dissidence:

Labwani has long been a thorn in the Syrian regime’s side. He angered officials with his advocacy for human rights and fundamental freedoms and has been a consistent advocate for reform. On August 28, 2002, a Syrian court sentenced him to three years in prison for his activities promoting reform during the “Damascus Spring,” the short period in 2000-01 in which the Syrian regime appeared to tolerate more open political criticism. Rather than cow Labwani, his previous imprisonment emboldened him. Following his September 2004 release from prison he founded the Democratic Liberal Gathering which calls for political and free-market reforms and equality for women.

On May 10, 2007, one week after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syria’s foreign minister Walid al-Moallem for the highest-level bilateral talks between the two governments in more than two year a Syrian court sentenced Kamal al-Labwani to twelve years imprisonment and hard labor. That the harsh sentence coincides with Washington’s decision to reengage Damascus suggests that Assad believes the White House no longer holds it accountable for its persecution of nonviolent dissidents.

The Times of Israel report discussed Labwani views critical of Obama’s new ISIS strategy at the ICT Counter Terrorism conference, “Syrian opposition leader skeptical of US plan to arm rebels”. Labwani commented:

“Currently, the aid could fall into the wrong hands in the absence of good management and oversight,” Labwani said. “Real authority on the ground requires investment in organization before the aid is even sent.”

“We cannot fight terror with terror or crime with crime,” he said. “We must combat all the criminals, be they the regime or the terrorists from the Islamic State and the other gangs. You can’t have the Syrian people choose between a criminal named Bashar Assad or a terrorist named [Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi.”

“We must reconstruct a new leadership connected to the people,” he said. “This would also require a no-fly zone. It would be pointless to create a system inside and have the [Assad] regime destroy it.”

“They [the Americans] have relied on failed regimes. They gave a portfolio to Qatar and a portfolio to Saudi Arabia … but it’s the Syrians who must take responsibility and run their own lives. We could, for instance, form a base in liberated areas in the north and the south and establish good relations with people. But to receive orders from a Saudi sheikh or a Qatari sheikh or from foreign intelligence agencies? That won’t work.”

“How can we turn this chaos into order? We need to build an authority on the ground. This requires a budget, an economy, institutions, reconstruction, and protection. Weapons aren’t enough.”

An op-ed in the Weekend Edition of the Wall Street Journal resonated Dr. Labwani’s comments, Obama Needs the Free Syrian Army to Defeat the Islamic State. The authors are Oubai Shahbandar and Michael Pregent. Mr. Shahbandar, a former Pentagon analyst, is an adviser to the Syrian Opposition Coalition of which Dr. Labwani is a member. Mr. Pregent is an adjunct lecturer at National Defense University and a former U.S. Army intelligence officer. They noted:

Until recently, the U.S. intelligence community had a grim assessment of the prospects of working with the Free Syrian Army opposition forces in an anti-ISIS campaign. Issues with command and control and unclear links to a political framework were often cited as reasons for hesitation to invest in the type of military partnership the U.S. has with Kurdish security forces in Iraq in fighting ISIS.

Nonetheless, the success of President Obama’s strategy in Syria clearly depends on the ability of the Syrian Opposition Coalition and the Free Syrian Army to fight ISIS. The good news is the FSA has established a command center outside the village of Marea in the strategically important province of Aleppo to direct and manage the battle against ISIS in northern Syria. And in August the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council, an alliance between FSA and other rebel factions, was formed to increase coordination and unity.

How can these rebel groups help the U.S. assault on ISIS? Even with the world’s most advanced intelligence reconnaissance and surveillance platforms, the U.S. military still needs “eyes on the ground” to round out the intelligence picture of ISIS’s capabilities, locations and vulnerabilities. Establishing an advice and assist relationship with the Free Syrian Army and tribal networks in eastern Syria would pay dividends for military planning. In late July, the Shaitat tribe in eastern Syria rose up against ISIS and drove them from the villages of Abu Hamam, Kashkiyeh and Ghranijup. The Shaitat have in turn faced brutal recriminations, with ISIS fighters capturing and slaughtering some 700 tribal members.

In Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga forces have proved to be the anvil to the hammer of U.S. airstrikes, denying ISIS strategic terrain and recapturing lost territory. ISIS suffered its first strategic setback in Iraq in August with the loss of the Mosul Dam —an important blow to its image among its fracturing Sunni support base. Iraqi Sunni tribes, whose tribal confederation crosses over into eastern Syria, are also joining the fight against ISIS. In Syria, airstrikes should enable the FSA and allied tribes to retake the country’s eastern oil fields, which are vital to sustaining and funding ISIS operations.

Perhaps, Dr. Labwani’s visit to the ICT conference in Israel may also discuss possible mutual interests regarding  covert support of the FSA military command and indigenous Sunni tribes’ opposition to ISIS and the Assad regime.  If the case, one can only hope that might include linking up with Syrian Kurdish resistance forces, despite earlier differences.

Watch this March 31, 2014, MEMRI video interview with Dr. Labwani that may have prompted his current visit to the IDC conference in Herzliya.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on the New English Review. The featured image is of  Syrian Opposition Leader, Dr. Kamal Labani on right at ICT Conference Herzliya Israel 9-11-14. Source Moti Kahana,  Times of Israel.

Boston Muslim running Islamic State’s social media campaign

Ahmad Abousamra is a Muslim from the Boston area. He is the son of a doctor. He is a computer expert, a graduate of Northeastern University, where he made the dean’s list. If only we could alleviate the grinding poverty and social marginalization of young men like this, they wouldn’t turn to jihad.

“The American computer wiz running brutally effective ISIS social media campaign: College-educated son of top Boston doctor is on FBI Most Wanted list,” by Michael Zennie, MailOnline, September 4, 2014 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

A college educated American citizen with a knack for computers is believed to be one of the men running the brutally effective ISIS social media operation, which is helping to attract hundreds of fighters from across the world – including the U.S., Britain and Canada.

Ahmad Abousamra, 32, was born in France and raised in the upscale Boston suburb of Stoughton. His father is a prominent endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He attended the exclusive Xaverian Brothers Catholic high school and made the Dean’s List at Northeastern University.

He graduated with a degree in a technology field then took a job at a telecommunications company.

U.S. officials tell ABC News that he is now putting his skills to work for ISIS, the brutal terrorist organization that has been effectively using 21st century methods like Twitter memes, Facebook posts, selfies and YouTube videos to promote its radical 6th century Islamic ideals.

In 2004, federal authorities say, Abousamra left his American life behind and traveled to Iraq in the hopes of fighting U.S. soldiers as part of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Instead, he was recruited to the groups ‘media wing.’

‘If you do have a European language ability, if you have computer skills, if you are quite clever and you come join ISIS, you are likely to be used for social media output,’ Peter Neumann, the director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, told ABC.

When he returned to the U.S. in 2006, he was questioned by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. He was released without charge and slipped out of the country and back to Syria.

In 2009, he was charged with federal terrorism offenses. He is currently on the FBI’s Most Wanted list and the government has offered a $50,000 reward for his capture.

Most Wanted: The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for the capture of Abousamra, who is wanted on federal terrorism charges

Most Wanted: The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for the capture of Abousamra, who is wanted on federal terrorism charges

Brutally effective: ISIS has managed to use 21th century tactics to promote its brutal 6th century worldview

Brutally effective: ISIS has managed to use 21th century tactics to promote its brutal 6th century worldview. For a larger view click on the image.

Authorities now believe Abousamra is in charge of running social media for ISIS, according to ABC.

ISIS has shown remarkable sophistication with its online presence. When the group released its video showing the execution of journalist James Foley, it was simultaneously posted on dozens of online forums, Twitter accounts of other social media sites.

A slew of Twitter and Facebook accounts spread the group’s message by posting pictures of the brutal executions and torture that ISIS terrorist bestow on their enemies – all while staying a step ahead of Silicon Valley’s attempts to shut them down.

Jihadist fighters who join ISIS, meanwhile, project an image of a certain kind of twisted glamour, showing off their new life and posing with weapons and on military vehicles.

‘ISIS understands very well that in order for an act of terrorism to be effective, it needs to actually terrorize people,’ Mr Neumann told ABC.

‘The act of communication that follows the act of violence is almost as important as the act of violence itself.’

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