Tag: ISIS

British man called John beheaded American journalist Foley

The jihadist who beheaded the American journalist James Foley is believed to be British born militant from London who calls himself John, it can be revealed.

John spoke English with an accent identified as southern British by a linguistic expert, interviewed by The Guardian.

Intelligence agents in the UK and United States are urgently looking into reports that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) fighter, whose brutal actions shocked the world, is the ringleader of group of British jihadists who have specialised in hostage taking.

Based in the Isil stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, ‘John’, is described as a well-educated, intelligent, but highly committed member of the extremist terror group.

Operating closely with two other British born militants, the group have been dubbed ‘The Beatles’, by fellow jihadists because of their nationality.

Some have boasted on Twitter and Facebook about their involvement, and the security services were last night examining pictures of known fighters as part of the process of identifying Mr Foley’s killer. They include boys and girls as young as 16, a medical student and a Primark shop assistant.

Source: The Telegraph

John McCain selfie with ISIS posted

On Memorial Day in 2013, John McCain, senior United States Senator from Arizona and Republican presidential nominee in 2008, went on a secret trip to Syria to meet with the rebels who were fighting against Bassar Assad.

At the time, McCain described his visit as ‘moving.’ During an appearance on CNN, McCain elaborated on his experience.

“It was a very moving experience to meet these fighters who have been struggling now for over two years. And they’re very aware of the battlefield situation and they’re very disturbed about the dramatic influx of Hezbollah fighters, more Iranians, and of course, stepped-up activities of Bashar Assad.”

McCain posed for pictures with these rebels, smiling as the camera snapped. Now, ISIS, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria formerly known as Al Qaeda in Iraq, is using those pictures as a campaign ad.

The ISIS terrorists are thus using Republican politicians to advance their cause.

Source: TPNN

Judge who sentenced Saddam murdered by ISIS

After the second invasion of Iraq in 2006 found no WMD’s – the pretext for the invasion in the first place – the Americans settled for the kangaroo court trial of Saddam Hussein.

Quick to announce “mission accomplished” then, recent events however have made a mockery of that claim.

As part of its blitz-campaign to take over northern Iraq, ISIS found and then promptly executed Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman, the judge who sentenced Saddam to death – a death which was crowning moment of the second US invasion of Iraq, and the confirmation of successful US foreign policy.

It goes without saying that if local reports are true, the man who indirectly did the US bidding in slamming the book shut on the Saddam regime and Iraqi “liberation”, has met with poetic justice.

As LiveLeak first reported, Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman was the replacement chief judge of the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal’s Al-Dujail trial of Saddam Hussein in 2006. His background, from Wikipedia:

Abd al-Rahman was an ethnic Kurd from Halabja. He replaced Rizgar Mohammed Amin as chief judge on 23 January 2006. Amin had resigned after being criticised in the Iraqi media for appearing “too soft” on the defendants by allowing them to speak aloud in court without being recognized. After Amin’s resignation, Abd al-Rahman headed the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal during the rest of the trial of Saddam Hussein and when it sentenced him to death. He also sentenced to death some of his top aides. In December 2006, Abd al-Rahman took his family to Britain on a travel visa, and three months later applied for asylum. He later cancelled his application. In 16 June 2014, Abd al-Rahman was arrested by ISIS rebels during 2014 Northern Iraq offensive. Two days later, it was reported that ISIS captured and executed him.

ISIS Inc, Jihadists attract investors

The notorious ISIS, which has been slicing through Iraq moving closer to Baghdad, behaves like a big corporation, issuing press releases to create an image of a well-structured, disciplined and effective organization to attract investors and new members.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL), which has made lightning advances against government forces seizing key cities, is determined to sweep towards Baghdad.

In just a few days ISIS fighters have almost reached the Iraqi capital, killing scores of people along the way. During the US-led invasion of the country it took the allied forces 22 days to reach Baghdad.

ISIS emerged back in 2004 following the chaos of invasion from radical Sunni jihadists, whose main objective is to establish an Islamic caliphate based on Sharia law.

Manipulating religions tensions in the country between Shias and Sunnis, they were able to unite followers of Saddam Hussein Ba’ath party, a Sunni dominant force. By 2011, ISIS militants regrouped after Nouri al-Maliki’s government released high-profile members of the militant movement.

Today ISIS claims to have over 15,000 fighters most of who are thought to be from neighboring middle eastern countries, but around 2,000 are believed to have come from Europe, including Britain.

In the militant’s own assessment, found in an annual report called al-Naba, or “the news”, ISIS boasts of its destructive force. A regurgitated version of the report, covering the period of November 2012 to November 2013, is offered by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Originally in Arabic the 400 page long document was initially published by the I’tisaam Media Foundation. It is also the second known ISIS release advertising their bloody rampage in Iraq.

The Institute for the Study of War summary also claims that “From the period of April 2013 through to the present, ISIS has been operating in Syria as well, though the distinctions between their military operations in Iraq and Syria is the subject of ongoing study at ISW.”

In its conclusion, the institute believed the organization is making several nation-wide changes to its tactics. “This is a strong indication of a unified, coherent leadership structure that commands from the top down.”

The report has been described as “almost like a company with details of martyrdom operations and targets,” by Nigel Inkster, former assistant chief of UK intelligence service MI6, in an interview to the Financial Times. “You have a clear overlay of structure, planning and strategy to the organisation.”

“ISIS is an extension of Al-Qaeda. With American funds, now ISIS is killing Iraqis and planning to go for Baghdad and Iraqi Shiite shrines to settle an old score,” Elijah Abraham, an Iraqi Christian evangelist told Baptist Press. “Since 2009 with President Obama’s policies in the Middle East, there has also been a systematic cleansing of Christians in the Middle East.”

Washington which spent $25 billion to train Iraq’s security forces over the years, according to a report by the special inspector general on Iraq, now finds itself at ground zero – Islamists are taking over Iraq.

Source: RT

Islamic radicals in Iraq trained by US

Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, were trained in 2012 by U.S. instructors working at a secret base in Jordan, according to informed Jordanian officials.

The officials said dozens of ISIS members were trained at the time as part of covert aid to the insurgents targeting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. The officials said the training was not meant to be used for any future campaign in Iraq.

The Jordanian officials said all ISIS members who received U.S. training to fight in Syria were first vetted for any links to extremist groups like al-Qaida.

In February 2012, WND was first to report the U.S., Turkey and Jordan were running a training base for the Syrian rebels in the Jordanian town of Safawi in the country’s northern desert region.

That report has since been corroborated by numerous other media accounts.

Source: WND.com

Iraq violence sends oil soaring

Sectarian violence in Iraq sent the price of oil skyrocketing on Thursday, propelling both Brent and West Texas Intermediate up more than two percent amid growing concerns about a threat to global supply.

After a delayed reaction to turmoil raging in the country, oil prices soared as open warfare between rebel forces—threatening a reconquest of Iraq barely a few years after U.S. forces departed—and the government spilled on to the world stage. Iraq is a member of OPEC, second only to Saudi Arabia as one of the world’s largest producers of crude.

With violence threatening Iraq’s civilian population and overwhelming the country’s security forces, a shadowy group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham (ISIS) has managed to seize control of key cities including Mosul, the country’s second-largest, Ramadi, Falluja and Tikrit. Fears about global supply mounted, as reports surfaced that Russian tanks had moved into beleaguered Ukraine, sending crude on a tear and overwhelming the impact of lackluster U.S. economic data.

Source: CNBC