This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Terror War

Jordan leads war against ISIS

The rumor is that there’s an Iraqi offensive against the Islamic State in the works under the protection of the Jordanian Air Force which has struck 56 targets in the last few days;

Jordan has vowed an “earth-shattering” response after the Sunni extremists captured one of its air force pilots, Maaz al-Kassasbeh, burned him alive and released a gruesome video of the execution.

“On the first day of the campaign to avenge our airman Maaz al-Kassasbeh, 19 targets were destroyed, including training camps and equipment,” Jobour told reporters.

The other day we talked about the United Arab Emirates dropping out of the air campaign against ISIS mainly because there were no assurances from the US that we could protect their pilots. The Emirates have moved their aircraft to Jordanian air bases to rejoin the fight;

The Reuters news agency, citing a Jordanian army source, also said that the UAE’s move would help intensify air strikes on the armed group.

“They will be based in Jordan. This is a big boost and will be helping our brothers shorten their flying distances and intensify strikes against the militants in Jordan,” the anonymous military source said.

Meanwhile, ISIS told the media that Kayla Mueller, the US hostage held by ISIS, was killed in a Jordanian airstrike.

The jihadists named the woman as Kayla Jean Mueller, saying she had been buried under rubble after a raid by a Jordanian warplane in the Syrian city of Raqa, the militant group’s self-proclaimed “capital”.

I don’t believe that. I believe she’s dead, but I suspect they murdered her before the video of the Jordainian pilot was released and the backlash was so great, that they didn’t release the video of her murder, so they made up this story instead.

February 9, 2015
Grand Haven Coast Guard Station “act of domestic terrorism”

O4E sends us a link to the story of an incident at the Grand Haven Coast Guard Station in Michigan where a rambunctious fellow crashed his vehicle into gate at the facility and confronted the guards there. The local police are calling it “an act of domestic terrorism”;

Hawke said the suspect assaulted Coast Guard personnel and made a threat of an explosive device in the truck he used to crash into the gate. The suspect since has been detained and currently is being questioned by law enforcement officials.

Michigan State Police bomb techs remain on the scene at the Grand Haven Coast Guard Station to determine the validity of the suspect’s threats of explosives.

Hawke said the department is unclear if the suspect, whose name and information have not been released, was acting alone or if others are involved. The investigation reportedly is “rapidly expanding into other areas of Michigan,”

However, Hawke said the suspect is not a resident of Grand Haven.

The latest news is that there was no bomb in the truck but that the feds are investigating;

“The FBI Detroit Field Office, FBI Grand Rapids Resident Agency and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are fully engaged with federal, state and local law enforcement authorities regarding the incident which took place this morning at the U.S. Coast Guard Grand Haven Sector Field Office.

“The suspect was taken into custody by police officers with the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety. The scene has been cleared, no explosive devices were found, and the investigation has not revealed a link to terrorism. The FBI, in concert with its law enforcement partners, will continue to take all logical investigative steps with regard to this incident.”

I’m guessing that, because they called it terrorism so quickly, it has nothing to do with Islamic extremism, or whatever it is they’re calling that today.

February 8, 2015
Six arrested for support of ISIS

Andy11M sends us a link to the Associated Press which reports that six Bosnians were arrested on Friday for their material support to ISIS;

The indictment unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis alleges they plotted by phone, Facebook and email; shared videos and photos related to their plans on social media sites; sent money via PayPal and Western Union; and shipped boxes of military gear through the U.S. Postal Service.

The defendants are accused of donating money themselves and, in some cases, collecting funds from others in the U.S. and sending the donations overseas. It says two of the defendants, a husband and wife in St. Louis, used some of the money to buy U.S. military uniforms, firearms accessories, tactical gear and other equipment from local businesses and ship it to intermediaries in Turkey and Saudi Arabia who forwarded the supplies to fighters in Syria and Iraq.

One of the people charged was 34-year-old, Mediha Medy Salkicevic, a mother of four living in Chicago.

From the Chicago Tribune;

The other co-defendants, all Bosnian immigrants, were charged in Missouri, where they purchased military equipment from surplus stores, according to the indictment. Salkicevic will likely soon be sent to St. Louis, where she was indicted.

The conspiracy began no later than May 2013, with Salkicevic using email, phones and social media websites such as Facebook to communicate using code words like “brothers,” lions” and “Bosnian brothers,” according to the indictment.

Salkicevic transferred money on multiple occasions to co-defendant Ramiz Zijad Hodzic in St. Louis, which was sent to fighters in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. Payments were made via PayPal and Western Union, according to the indictment.

February 8, 2015
Tom Cotton: Too many empty beds in Guantanamo

Arkansas did us a big favor last November when they elected Iraq War veteran, Tom Cotton to the Senate. Yesterday, in the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, he gave us rational Americans a voice;

“In my opinion, the only problem of Guantanamo Bay is there are too many empty beds and cells there right now,” said Cotton, R-Arkansas. “We should be sending more terrorists there for further interrogation to keep this country safe.”

[…]

“Islamic terrorists don’t need an excuse to attack the United States. They don’t attack us for what we do, they attack us for who we are,” Cotton said.

In an exchange with DOD Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Policy Brian McKeon, Cotton said the Obama administration’s move to shut down the facility and relocate prisoners is based on politics, not security or human rights concerns.

“As far as I’m concerned, every last one of them can rot in hell, but as long as they don’t do that, then they can rot in Guantanamo Bay!” Cotton said, shutting off his mic.

Of course, he’s right. The only way that the existence of the prison in Guantanamo is a recruiting tool for Islamists is because the hand-wringers and do-gooders let it be a source of shame. We’ve needed a voice like Tom Cotton’s in the Senate for years. Thank you, Arkansas.

February 6, 2015
UAE ends combat role against ISIS

In spite of US reports to the contrary, the United Arab Emirates have discontinued their combat role in the coalition arrayed against ISIS, according to the Associated Press;

The UAE dropped out of the group of countries conducting airstrikes against IS targets in Syria in December but has remained involved in noncombat roles, the officials said. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because the move has not been announced and they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Even after the UAE stopped flying the missions, the U.S. military has continued to suggest otherwise in its daily news releases about the air campaign. Each day it has stated, “Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the U.S., Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.”

So, while Jordan sees a need to increase their own activity in the skies over Syria and Iraq, the UAE has abrogated their agreement with Arab allies. Of course, if this had happened during the second Iraq War and an ally had stopped participating, this would be headline news that the Bush coalition was eroding. Instead we find the news on a back page of Stars & Stripes.

February 5, 2015
King Abdullah goes to war

Breitbart reports that King Abdullah of Jordan has reacted differently to the gruesome death of one his pilots than our own president reacted to the beheading of American James Foley;

Shafaqna news and Iraqinews.com claimed to have confirmed with their sources that King Abdullah is personally involved in conducting the air strikes. What remains unclear is whether Abdullah is personally suiting up and flying a plane, or instead commanding units involved in the mission.

“The Jordanian King Abdullah II will participate personally on Thursday in conducting air strikes against the shelters of the terrorist ISIL organization to revenge the execution of the Jordanian pilot [Kasasbeh] by the ISIL,” said the IraqiNews report.

I don’t expect our president to fly Cobras or an A-10, but it would be nice if he acted like there’s a war.

February 5, 2015
Canadians charge 3 ISIS recruiters

Andy11M sends us a link to an Associated Press article which reports that Canadian law enforcement has charged three citizens for recruiting for ISIS. Two have apparently left the country and one may even be dead already;

Police said they arrested Awso Peshdary, 25, and charged him with participation in the activity of a terrorist group and with facilitating a terrorist group. Police also filed terrorism charges in absentia against Khadar Khalib, 23, and John Maguire, a 24-year-old convert to Islam. Both men had travelled to Syria.

Maguire, who has appeared in a IS video calling for attacks against Canadians, might have been killed recently according to reports.

Of course, Canada has been attacked by ISIS-supporters in the last few months. I guess that was the impetus for them to start rounding up these creatures, just like the Europeans needed to be awoken last month.

February 4, 2015
Jordan hangs two

True to their word, the government of Jordan hung two of the convicted ISIS terrorists they had in custody according to Reuters. Jordan believes that their pilot, Muath al-Kasaesbeh, was burned to death a month before the video was released yesterday.

Kasaesbeh’s father said the two executions were not enough and urged the government to do more to avenge his death.

“I want the state to get revenge for my son’s blood through more executions of those people who follow this criminal group that shares nothing with Islam,” Safi al-Kasaesbeh told Reuters.

“Jordanians are demanding that the state and coalition take revenge with even more painful blows to destroy these criminals,” he said.

The Jordanian army has vowed to avenge his death, and some analysts believe it could escalate its involvement in the campaign against Islamic State, which has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, Jordan’s neighbours to the north and east.

So, that’s probably not working out the way that ISIS had planned. Of course, King Abdullah of Jordan actually has experience in the military – he’s pulled a trigger a few times. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the British Army after graduating from Sandhurst and he commanded British troops for a year. When he returned to Jordan, he commanded their Special Forces and was a major general before he became king.

February 4, 2015