Middle East Update

[Straightshot]

[TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="class: articleTitle"][h=1]L leader calls for attacks in audio clip[/h][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: Tmp_hSpace10"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][h=2]Group claims man speaking in recording is its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, following reports he was wounded or killed.[/h]
Last updated: 13 Nov 2014 18:44

[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]


[/TD]
[TD]

[/TD]
[TD]


[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


LISTEN

​

​

​

​

​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

The message ran for 17 minutes and said the US-led coalition would not defeat ISIL [Al Jazeera]


[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: DetailedSummary"]The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has released an audio recording it says is of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, just days after targeted air strikes in Iraq led to rumours he had been wounded or killed.
In the 17-minute message, the man, purported to be Baghdadi, made no direct reference to the strike against ISIL's leadership, but made mention of a failed "crusade", without going into any specific details of the air raids or how they were failing.
He also mentioned developments that have occurred since the strikes, including Egypt's Ansar Beit al-Maqdis pledging its allegiance to ISIL.
This would place the recording posted on the web on Thursday as being made within the past 36-hours.
In the message, Baghdadi called for the fighting to continue, saying that the US and its allies feared the return of the Islamic Caliphate.
"Be assured, O Muslims, for your state is good and in the best condition," he said according to an English transcript of the message released together with the recording.
The US said coalition aircraft launched attacks targeting ISIL leaders near Mosul on Friday, setting off the speculation that Baghdadi had been wounded.
Some reports pointed to another strike near Iraq's border with Syria, saying Baghdadi was wounded there instead.
Timing significant
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said the timing of the audio recording's release was significant.
"Since Saturday, rumours have been swirling saying Baghdadi was injured or killed. ISIL has denied this," he said.
"This will be used by ISIL as evidence of the failure of the US to get their leader, and indeed, that is what this audio tape is intended to imply."
[TABLE="class: in-article-item, width: 220"]
[TR]
[TD]

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: caption"]Pinpointing military and humanitarian aid from nations in the international struggle against the armed group.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

The audio message was the first from Baghdadi since a video was released in July, shortly after ISIL proclaimed a caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria, of him delivering a Friday sermon in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
The voice in Thursday's audio document appeared to match the video, but there was no immediate confirmation of its authenticity from other sources.
In the recording, Baghdadi says that the US-led coalition of dozens of nations contributing to the military effort against ISIL is failing to defeat his group.
"Its march will not stop and it will continue to expand, by Allah's permission," he says.
"The march of the mujahideen will continue until they reach Rome.
"And soon, the Jews and Crusaders will be forced to come down to the ground and send their ground forces to their deaths and destruction."
Expanding influence
The recording makes specific calls for attacks against the rulers of Saudi Arabia, saying ISIL was expanding its influence within the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia has joined the US in carrying out airstrikes against ISIL.
"O sons of al-Haramayn...the serpent's head and the stronghold of the disease are there...draw your swords and divorce life, because there should be no security for the Saloul," Baghdadi said, using a derogatory term to refer to the leadership of Saudi Arabia.
When asked about the tape, US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said she could not confirm is was Baghdadi.
"Clearly the brutality, rhetoric, efforts to incite by any leaders of ISIL is not a new phenomenon. It is a reminder to everyone in the region and around the world, what their intentions are," she said.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[john832]

Something I don't understand is that on the news in the evenings, ISIL positions are shown with their cutthroats standing out in the open. I know for a fact that if you can see 'em, you can kill 'em.

 

[psalm6819]

Look up for our redemption draws nigh.....

 

[kaylagrl]

Right! All the more reason to band together as nations and stop these madmen and this insipid evil. As David did to Goliath for ridiculing his God.

 

[GracethroughfaithinChrist]

Is it just me or does the photo in the OP look odd?
Maybe I'm looking to much into it, (squint) but just some observations..........

Lot's of Toyota's and a couple of Chevy's (well, can't say I blame them for liking a fuel efficient vehicle, or a comfortable Chevy truck)
Can't see anyone driving the vehicles except partially in the first vehicle (that's what caught my eye,lol)......
Vehicles 2, and 5 have one bright headlight but others not nearly as bright (hmmm interesting)
Gas vapors opposite vehicles at 6-11 on road but not so much before or after (ah huh,)

Now......... can anyone show me how to get to the conspiracy forum; someone's got some splanin' to do?

 

[Straightshot]

"Something I don't understand is that on the news in the evenings, ISIL positions are shown with their cutthroats standing out in the open. I know for a fact that if you can see 'em, you can kill 'em."


And they do not care if you do .... this is the difference between the Muslim religion and western culture

We love life .... they hate it

And there are millions of them

They will gladly die for "Allah" in their cause .... and they are willing to take the battle to the end

The Middle East has always been a quagmire for intervening nations .... and their is a reason why

.... a region impossible to deal with

 

[Agricola]

Is it just me or does the photo in the OP look odd?
Maybe I'm looking to much into it, (squint) but just some observations..........

Lot's of Toyota's and a couple of Chevy's (well, can't say I blame them for liking a fuel efficient vehicle, or a comfortable Chevy truck)
Can't see anyone driving the vehicles except partially in the first vehicle (that's what caught my eye,lol)......
Vehicles 2, and 5 have one bright headlight but others not nearly as bright (hmmm interesting)
Gas vapors opposite vehicles at 6-11 on road but not so much before or after (ah huh,)

Now......... can anyone show me how to get to the conspiracy forum; someone's got some splanin' to do?

Maybe you are too addicted to conspiracy theories, there is nothing unusual about the photo at all. Make of vehicles has nothing to do with anything, yes those are popular makes of car out there, the invisible drivers have been crudely brushed out to hide the identiy notice hands on wheel still, blow image up, etc its obvious. The vapours are not vapours, its good old heat shimmer, headlights so what, a slight change in angle and position will totally change the light source in the lens of the camera.

 

[GracethroughfaithinChrist]

Maybe you are too addicted to conspiracy theories

And maybe you don't have a sense of humor.......

 

[crossnote]

Maybe you are too addicted to conspiracy theories, there is nothing unusual about the photo at all. Make of vehicles has nothing to do with anything, yes those are popular makes of car out there, the invisible drivers have been crudely brushed out to hide the identiy notice hands on wheel still, blow image up, etc its obvious. The vapours are not vapours, its good old heat shimmer, headlights so what, a slight change in angle and position will totally change the light source in the lens of the camera.

They look like they all just left the car wash, not a trace of mud or dirt on them...Conspiracy!!

 

[Straightshot]

[h=1]ISIS, Al Qaeda affiliate reportedly unite to fight US-backed rebels in Syria[/h]Published November 13, 2014FoxNews.com


Facebook619 Twitter401 Email Print

June 30, 2014: This photo by the Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group, a Syrian opposition group, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria.(AP)


ISTANBUL – The two most brutal terror groups in Syria reportedly have struck an alliance, in a deal that poses serious problems for the Obama administration’s efforts to prop up “moderate” rebel factions in the country.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that militant leaders from the Islamic State and Al Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, the Nusra Front, agreed during a meeting in northern Syria last week to stop fighting each other.
Such an accord could present new difficulties for Washington's strategy against the Islamic State. While warplanes from a U.S.-led coalition strike militants from the air, the Obama administration has counted on arming "moderate" rebels to push them back on the ground.
Those rebels, already considered relatively weak and disorganized, would face far stronger opposition if the two heavy-hitting militant groups now are working together. One official claimed the Islamic State and Nusra already have agreed to work toward destroying one prominent, U.S.-backed rebel group.
The Islamic State, which also operates in Iraq where U.S. troops already are stationed, had fought with the Nusra Front for more than a year to dominate the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Their new agreement, according to the sources in rebel groups opposed to both, would involve a promise to stop fighting and team up in attacks in some areas of northern Syria.
The developments came as the top two U.S. military officials testified on Capitol Hill about the status of the Islamic State fight in both Iraq and Syria. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, responding to some concerns about the progress of the war, said there is “no change in strategy.”
But he and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered a cautious assessment of the progress in the three-month-old war against Islamic extremists.
And Dempsey said an effort to move into Mosul, an area in Iraq now held by ISIS militants, or to restore the border with Syria would require more complex operations. He suggested this could involve U.S. forces.
"I'm not predicting at this point that I would recommend that those forces in Mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by U.S. forces, but we're certainly considering it," Dempsey told the House Armed Services Committee.
Meanwhile, a U.S. official with access to intelligence about Syria told the Associated Press the American intelligence community has not seen any indications of a shift in the strategy by ISIS and the Nusra Front, but added that he could not rule out tactical deals on the ground.
According to a Syrian opposition official speaking in Turkey, the meeting where the deal was reached took place Nov. 2 in the town of Atareb, west of Aleppo, starting at around midnight and lasting until 4 a.m. The official said the meeting was closely followed by members of his movement, and he is certain that an agreement was reached. The official said about seven top militant leaders attended.
A second source, a commander of brigades affiliated with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army who is known as Abu Musafer, said he also had learned that high-ranking members of Nusra and ISIS met on Nov. 2. He did not disclose the exact location, but said it was organized by a third party and took place in an area where the FSA is active.
According to Abu Musafer, two decisions were reached: First, to halt infighting between Nusra and ISIS and second, for the groups together to open up fronts against Kurdish fighters in a couple of new areas of northern Syria.
The Nusra Front has long been seen as one of the toughest factions trying to oust Assad in a civil war estimated to have killed more than 200,000 since 2011. The Islamic State group entered the Syria war in 2012 from its original home in Iraq and quickly earned a reputation for brutality and for trying to impose itself as the leading faction in the rebellion behind which all pious Muslims should unite. Al Qaeda initially rejected ISIS’ claims to any role in Syria, and Nusra and other factions entered a war-within-a-war against it. But the Islamic State group swelled in power and became flush with weapons and cash after overrunning much of northern and western Iraq over the summer.
According to the opposition official, the meeting included an ISIS representative, two emissaries from Nusra Front, and attendees from the Khorasan Group, a small but battle-hardened band of Al Qaeda veterans from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The official said ISIS and the Nusra Front agreed to work to destroy the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, a prominent rebel faction armed and trained by the United States and led by a fighter named Jamal Maarouf. They agreed to keep fighting until all of the force, estimated to be 10,000 to 12,000 fighters, was eliminated, the official said.
During the meeting, ISIS also offered to send extra fighters to Nusra Front for an assault it launched last week on Western-backed rebels from the Hazm Movement near the town of Khan al-Sunbul in northern Syria, the official said. IS sent about 100 fighters in 22 pickup trucks but Nusra ended up not needing the assistance, he said, because Hazm decided not to engage in the fight. Sixty-five Hazm fighters defected to Nusra, he said.
Tom Joscelyn, an American analyst who tracks terror groups for the website Long War Journal, said he hasn't seen any messaging that would confirm that the two groups have formally joined forces on the battlefield. But he said there has been information emerging before the reported Nov. 2 meeting "that would seem to fit in with that being what they were driving at. There has been a big push on the al-Qaida side to get this (alliance) through."
If they work together, the jihadis will be more effective in Syria, he said. "If there is less blood being spilled against each other and they don't have to worry about that, that's going to make it easier for the jihadis to go after Assad or any Western-backed forces."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[Kerry]

The much much much bigger deal is the cold war heating up with China.

 

[Straightshot]

I don't see China in the prophecies .... they are all focused upon the populations of the Middle East still inhabiting the region to this very day .... and they are Muslims

 

[Gadget]

I dont have anything to realky add except noting how a bunch if cowards cliam to be lions. You wont see them out in the open often as they know they would get shot. No instead tgey'll hide in the shadows. They'll give a kid $5 to throw an IED. theyll kidnap a mans family and tell him to suicide bomb a market or we'll kill your family. Or drug someine up so much they have no idea who he is or whats going on abd send him in that way.

They are snakes. Plain and simple.

 

[crossnote]

I dont have anything to realky add except noting how a bunch if cowards cliam to be lions. You wont see them out in the open often as they know they would get shot. No instead tgey'll hide in the shadows. They'll give a kid $5 to throw an IED. theyll kidnap a mans family and tell him to suicide bomb a market or we'll kill your family. Or drug someine up so much they have no idea who he is or whats going on abd send him in that way.

They are snakes. Plain and simple.

Kinda like the Hollywood comedians who sneer, snicker and taunt Christians but are strangely silent when it comes to Islam's mistreatment of women and gays...cowards and snakes as well.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

The much much much bigger deal is the cold war heating up with China.

or even russia, Putin has been spouting off alot, even threatening nuclear war again. And he has the power to do it.

Islam is not even an army, they spread hate and fear, as long as we do not fear them, they have no way to win.

 

[john832]

The much much much bigger deal is the cold war heating up with China.

The much much much bigger deal than this are the events occurring in Europe. Britain being weeded out of the EU. A faltering economy that will set the stage for an economic "savior". A great universal church that is softening on some hard lines and extending rapprochement. Events occurring around the Temple Mount. etc.

 

[Straightshot]

The events that you tell will only be the weakening of western culture and political faulting

This will only serve to bolster the real threat of Islamic intransigence both to Israel and the world

 

[Agricola]

And maybe you don't have a sense of humor.......

I will just put that down to cultural difference as to what passes as humour, or maybe you need a better delivery to indicate it is a toungue in cheek post!.

 

[Straightshot]

my comments


The western view of the Gentile church related to prophecy is very different that the biblical view

This is a primary product of preteristic and or replacement theology

The Bible is a Middle Eastern composition and has very little to do with western ideals

Europe and or the US will never produce a Euro-centric "economic savior"

It is the Middle East where the center stage will be for the final showdown between the Lord and Israel against Satan, his beast in the human little horn, and the Muslim culture that follows

This is the exact picture and focus of the prophetic scene for the time of the ending of this present age

One significant thing to understand is that it will be the little horn and his 10 cohorts that will bring down western economic dominance in one day .... the first judgment of Revelation's unfolding [Revelation 8:6-12; 14:8; 17:16-18; 18:1-21] ... the Lord is against "godless" nations and will seek to destroy them

The Lord's view of end time "Mystery" Babylon is a very different thing than ancient Babylon of the Middle East

The entire world of 8 billion is "Babylon" today and the central core is dominate western culture

Once this economic megalith is eliminated the contest will shift dramatically to Israel and the populations of the tiny nation's Middle Eastern enemies .... Israel will be totally left to Satan's designs and he will gain the upper hand for a short time [Revelation 12:12]

Then the Lord will come and pound his strategy into the ground killing his beast and related Middle Eastern kingdom and send him to the abyss for 1000 years

Satan's strategy to gain ground will be by his beast in the little horn that will rise from the northern reaches of the Middle East .... not Europe, and not a Pope .... this is biblical wrote [Daniel 2:40-43; 7:7-25; 8:9-25; 11:36-45: 12:7; Micah 5:5-6; Revelation 13:1-4]

So if you are looking to a Euro-centric setting for the fulfillment of the prophecies as the western Gentile church teaches ... you are looking in the wrong place

 

[eternally-gratefull]

my comments


The western view of the Gentile church related to prophecy is very different that the biblical view

This is a primary product of preteristic and or replacement theology

The Bible is a Middle Eastern composition and has very little to do with western ideals

Europe and or the US will never produce a Euro-centric "economic savior"

It is the Middle East where the center stage will be for the final showdown between the Lord and Israel against Satan, his beast in the human little horn, and the Muslim culture that follows

This is the exact picture and focus of the prophetic scene for the time of the ending of this present age

One significant thing to understand is that it will be the little horn and his 10 cohorts that will bring down western economic dominance in one day .... the first judgment of Revelation's unfolding [Revelation 8:6-12; 14:8; 17:16-18; 18:1-21] ... the Lord is against "godless" nations and will seek to destroy them

The Lord's view of end time "Mystery" Babylon is a very different thing than ancient Babylon of the Middle East

The entire world of 8 billion is "Babylon" today and the central core is dominate western culture

Once this economic megalith is eliminated the contest will shift dramatically to Israel and the populations of the tiny nation's Middle Eastern enemies .... Israel will be totally left to Satan's designs and he will gain the upper hand for a short time [Revelation 12:12]

Then the Lord will come and pound his strategy into the ground killing his beast and related Middle Eastern kingdom and send him to the abyss for 1000 years

Satan's strategy to gain ground will be by his beast in the little horn that will rise from the northern reaches of the Middle East .... not Europe, and not a Pope .... this is biblical wrote [Daniel 2:40-43; 7:7-25; 8:9-25; 11:36-45: 12:7; Micah 5:5-6; Revelation 13:1-4]

So if you are looking to a Euro-centric setting for the fulfillment of the prophecies as the western Gentile church teaches ... you are looking in the wrong place

My 2 cents (as if anyone cares)

Bible history ended with a european enemy destroying Israel and Jerusalem.

Biblical future will begin once again with that same European enemy still in power over Israel (the final beast of daniel) This power has not only governmental control, but religious control over the entire world) He places himself as messiah and God.

Islam will be wiped out either by this time, or by this leader. so they are no threat, any more than the RCC or any other cult which has been around, or will be around.

FOcus on winning the lost. Not what some evil, wimpy (yes I said wimpy) semipower in the middle east is doing.