Reports coming in from various news agencies in the Middle East say that numerous members of the terrorist group The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, are showing up at area hospitals with ebola-like symptoms. The World Health Organization (WHO) is investigating.
According to three media outlets an undisclosed number of militants displaying signs of the disease attended a hospital in the ISIS-held city of Mosul, 250 miles north of Baghdad.
While the reports, from Kurdish and pro-Iraqi sources, remain unconfirmed, WHO spokesman Christy Feig said the group are trying to reach out to officials in ISIS-held areas to offer help.
UN workers are currently banned from entering ISIS-controlled areas in both Iraq and Syria so it is unlikely an operation in the region could be carried out.
Ms Feig told Mashable: ‘We have no official notification from [the Iraqi government] that it is Ebola.’
Mosul has been under control of ISIS since June 2014 and over the past few weeks militants have reportedly executed more than a dozen doctors for refusing to treat injured fighters.
According to a report in Iraq’s pro-government newspaper, al Sabaah, the disease was brought to Mosul by ‘terrorists’ arriving ‘from several countries’ and Africa.
We didn’t need anymore proof that ISIS was ruthless, or sub-human, but trying to sell the remains of a decapitated James Foley further shows that we are not dealing with human beings here, but some rather a group of cold-hearted and disgusting creature.
Three sources in contact with ISIS or its associates told BuzzFeed News that it wants to sell the remains of James Foley, the U.S. journalist whose August death was the first in a series of high-profile executions of Western hostages by ISIS hands.
They said ISIS wants $1 million for Foley’s body, which it would deliver across the border to Turkey, and that the group was willing to provide a DNA sample to facilitate a deal.
If true, the attempted sale would highlight the ruthlessness behind the hostage-taking enterprise that has provided ISIS with deep reservoirs of funds and publicity — as well as the group’s cold calculation as it works to raise more cash.
Is it just me, or does it still not feel like the holidays yet? Perhaps the warmish, wet weather we’ve had here in the Northeast is partly to blame, or maybe it’s that the calendar has jammed the buying season into one less week this year because of a late Thanksgiving. Yes, yes, Chanukah, for once, is neither early nor late, which is rare for a Jewish holiday, but I think there’s something more than this going on in the country that’s partly clouding the season.
We have other things on our minds. Ferguson. Staten Island. ISIS. Oil prices. Wages. Equality issues relating to gender, age, sexual preference and orientation. Supreme Court arguments over worker disability rights and whether someone can post noxious, threatening dreck on Facebook, call it rap, and never mind the effect on the intended target. Even sports won’t let us relax and enjoy, what with players being suspended, unsuspended, arrested, concussed and, heaven forbid, involved in some of the aforementioned social issues. Why can’t they just be like Mike and play the game?
It seems as if the country is a bit more serious than normal this holiday season, weighing the price of our freedoms against the responsibilities that come with them. We’re looking at race and wondering why we still have problems and why whites and African-Americans still have such differing perspectives on how they are treated by police, the courts, storekeepers and mall security. We’re looking at income inequality and wondering why companies that make billions can’t lead by example and pay workers what they are worth, which is a wage that allows them to live a decent life. We’re looking at who is an American and how we can make sure that people who live here and contribute to their families and communities can stay here without the fear that the government is going to deport them because of a long-ago action. In short, we’re looking at justice and trying to make sure that everyone gets it because more than any other freedom afforded us, justice must be applied equally at all times.
In the end, I think this makes us stronger, and makes the season of giving that much more important. When we discuss, protest and even engage in some civil disobedience, we are reminded that we have given ourselves the greatest gifts of all: to live in a free society where we can air our concerns and make others realize that many groups in the United States are uncomfortable and unwealthy and insecure, and that each of us is responsible to make sure that every citizen is safe. That way, we can give other gifts, the material ones, knowing that we have done our part to make this a better country. The holidays we are about to celebrate are religious, but we need to remember that our national religion is democracy, and as such, we must all practice it.
So although it might not feel like the holidays just yet, I’m a little more optimistic that this season will see us do more good for ourselves and our neighbors.
ISIS in the other hand would say that they are doing all this killing for whatever god they serve.
Pope Francis said Islamic militants were carrying out a “profoundly grave sin against God” in Syria and Iraq, calling on Sunday for inter-religious dialogue and action against poverty to help end conflicts there. The pope spoke on the last day of his weekend trip to Turkey, which is sheltering nearly 2 million refugees from Syria, thousands of Christians among them.
At a joint service with Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual head of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians, Francis said people of all faiths could not remain indifferent to the cries of the victims of the “inhumane and brutal” war next door. “Taking away the peace of a people, committing every act of violence — or consenting to such acts — especially when directed against the weakest and defenseless, is a profoundly grave sin against God,” he said during the service.
It was the third time in as many days that the pope referred to ISIS militants, who have killed or driven Shi’ite Muslims, Christians and others who do not share their ultra-radical brand of Sunni Islam out of swathes of Syria and Iraq.
CNN reports that militants claim to have beheaded American hostage Peter Kassig in a video published to the Internet on Sunday, purportedly from terror group ISIS.
The video shows the aftermath of a beheading, in which the victim is not clearly recognizable. CNN has not been able to confirm the authenticity of the video nor the identity of the victim.
Kassig, 26, who converted to Islam in captivity, also went by the name Abdul-Rahman Kassig.
He went to the Middle East as a U.S. soldier and returned as a medical worker, feeling compelled to help victims of war.
He did aid work in Syria, where he was captured. He was held hostage for over a year.
Kassig’s parents, Ed and Paula Kassig, acknowledged the reports of their son’s death in a statement and said they would wait for government confirmation of their authenticity. They asked for privacy.
The Daily Mail reports that American war planes have reportedly launched a strike on a gathering of ISIS leaders, critically wounding their leader.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was hurt in the strikes today, according to local witnesses and government sources.
Two witnesses confirmed that bombs had fallen on the town of al-Qaim, next to the Syrian border.
Local government sources described how an aircraft had swooped over a meeting of senior ISIS figures and dropped its payload, killing more than a dozen people.
Another witness said that eight people had died when a bomb struck a market.
A local hospital was said to be overwhelmed with the volume of patients from the raid – including al-Baghdadi.
Local ISIS officials were reportedly roaming the streets with loudspeakers ordering residents to donate blood to help the wounded.
Striking Baghdadi would be the most significant blow yet in the campaign against ISIS, who have been defiant in the face of sustained air attacks from the U.S. Air Force and allies.
A provincial leader from Anbar in western Iraq, as well as his deputy, are said to be among those killed instantly by the bombs.
What now Republicans? What great idea do you have now to fight ISIS. “Arm the rebels” you screamed every day on my television and although the president told you that was not a good idea, you screamed louder. Well the President listened, and now it has been confirmed that ISIS has our weapons!
What now Republicans? We are giving them weapons to fight us! Not Smart! Unless… wait a second… was this your plan all along?
The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday that Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters took possession of a stray bundle of U.S.-airdropped weapons and other supplies in the Syrian border town of Kobani earlier this week.
The U.S. had dropped 28 bundles filled with grenades, mortar rounds and other supplies intended for Kurdish fighters in Kobani battling ISIS, but at least one had gone astray and was immediately destroyed.
However, Pentagon officials confirmed a second one had gone off course and ended up in enemy hands. A YouTube video uploaded on Tuesday appeared to show an ISIS militant going through an array of boxes, at least two of which contained grenades.
“We have determined a second bundle also went astray,” Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren acknowledged on Wednesday.”There’s always going to be some margin of error” when airdropping supplies, Warren added. “Wind can cause a parachute to move off its intended target.”
Ain’t nobody does scary like the Republicans. Even Democrats, who’ve been scaring the elderly for years saying that the GOP would cut their Medicare, can’t hold a candle to the right wing fright machine once it gets enough cheap American gasoline inside it. This week was a banner week for scary, and it’s going to grease the midterm slide so completely, that the Democrats won’t need Joe Biden around anyhow.
Never mind that Ebola is devastating West Africa and wreaking havoc on international travel and national psyches. It’s now a political issue and a subject for conspriacy theories. Some are comparing the government’s response to the outbreak to GW Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina, though the scale is, at this point, much smaller. And of course the anti-government crowd is blaming the government, the CDC and local administrations for fumbling the response. There is an element of truth in this. Potential carriers should not have flown on commercial airlines, nor should hospitals be unprepared for possible outbreaks.
Now, here comes the fear. If it’s not Ebola, it’s ISIS and the scary possibility that our borders are so porous that diseases and Islamic terrorists are pouring into the American southwest. With the economy growing slowly and the stock market sagging, it’s more evidence to many that the Democrats do not deserve to keep their majority and since most of the Senate races are in red states, well, the writing’s on the wall. I have been saying that the Democrats will hold their majority in November, but that will now depend almost solely on turnout.
So make sure you get out and vote. And don’t be afraid.
The two Australian girls who fled their homes back in April to join the terrorist group ISIS, are now saying they want out of the barbaric lifestyle led by the terrorist group.
Samra Kesinovic, 17, and Sabina Selimovic, 15 are now both pregnant and believed to be married, and according to Central European News (CEN), the girls have had a change of heart.
The change of heart is a much different tune than the note they left behind for their parents when they fled back in April, which read: “Don’t look for us. We will serve Allah — and we will die for him.”
Kesinovic and Selimovic grew up in Vienna, where they became accustomed to talking to whomever they wanted, saying whatever they pleased and wearing whatever clothes they liked. They did not have to live a life being controlled by people telling them what they can and cannot do.
But Kesinovic and Selimovic decided to leave all that behind and shack up with the same people they’ve now grown to hate.
For weeks, social media accounts believed to belong to the girls have been posting pictures and information leading many to feel they enjoyed living a life of terror.
Authorities in Austria say this was all an elaborate plan set up by ISIS in order to get people to think the two wanted to be the poster girls for jihad in Syria.
Now Austrian media are reporting that Kesinovic and Selimovic have said enough is enough and want to return to their families, according to CEN.
They have contacted their loved ones and told them they are sick of living with the Islamic State jihadis, but they also said they don’t feel they can flee from their unwanted new life because too many people now associate them with ISIS.
“The main problem is about people coming back to Austria,” said Austrian Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck. “Once they leave, it is almost impossible.”
The Congressman, Rep. Duncan Hunter, went on Fox News and broke the news to the United States and to the world, that ISIS is not only working hard to gain access to the US homeland, in fact says Hunter, they already have gained access and “at least 10” ISIS members were caught while crossing the southern border!
Be afraid America, be very afraid!
“ISIS doesn’t have a navy, they don’t have an air force, they don’t have nuclear weapons,” he added. “The only way that ISIS is going to harm Americans is by coming through the southern border – which they already have.“
“If you really want to protect Americans from ISIS, you secure the southern border — it’s that simple,” the San Diego Republican said. “They caught them at the border, therefore we know that ISIS is coming across the border. If they catch five or 10 of them then you know there’s going to be dozens more that did not get caught by the border patrol.”
When pushed by the Fox Host to explain how he got the information, Hunter said that a border patrol agent told him about the capture. Of course, ICE – Immigration Customs Enforcement – has already called the Republican congressman a liar, saying that there has been no such capture at any US border, but that is not going to stop people like Rep. Duncan Hunter from jumping on an opportunity to scare the American people into electing Republicans to close the border that Obama apparently opened. We all know there was not an opened border with Republicans ran the show!
Republicans have used every issue to try and scare Americans and blaming Democrats and the President for ISIS is no different. The terrorist group is a prime target for the Republican party trying to win the Senate in November 2014, and everything the terrorists do, is of course, Obama’s fault.
They claim the president is to be blamed for the development of the group and that the president is not securing the border. So joining the two issues – ISIS and The Border – just makes perfect sense for the opportunistic Republican. It is apparently the Democrats fault that the imaginary ISIS members are coming through the border to kill you as you sleep!
In yet another online video, another ISIS beheading is seen. Alan Henning, the British citizen held captive by the Islamic group was murdered over the weekend, the fourth of such gruesome display, done by ISIS in the name of Islam.
In the video, the masked killer with the now familiar British accent and common mannerism spoke about the recent bombings in Iraq and Syria, and warned President Obama that the murders will continue as the bombings continue.
“Obama, you have started your aerial bombardment of Sham (Syria), which keeps on striking our people, so it is only right that we continue to strike the necks of your people,” the masked militant in the video said.
In a statement, the British Foreign Officer said that they are working to verify the beheading, and are offering all support to Alan Henning’s family.
“If true, this is a further disgusting murder,” the officer’s statement said. “We are offering the family every support possible; they ask to be left alone at this time.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron said Henning’s apparent slaying showed “how barbaric and repulsive these terrorists are.”
“Alan had gone to Syria to help get aid to people of all faiths in their hour of need,” Cameron said in a statement. “The fact that he was taken hostage when trying to help others and now murdered demonstrates that there are no limits to the depravity of these … terrorists.
“We will do all we can to hunt down these murderers and bring them to justice.”
John Boehner, the Republican House Speaker and leader of the cowards in the House of Representatives, told The New York Times that the goal of this Congress has absolutely nothing to do with the Constitution. The leader of the congressional cowards explained their main goal is sitting back and waiting ’till next year when hopefully that congress will have a backbone and do what is required of them.
Are you aware that we are fighting a war? The United States is leading a the fight against ISIS, or ISIL as they are called by White House personnel. And according to the United States Constitution, it is the job of Congress to declare war. But this is an election year and the cowards in Congress are more concerned with appearing favorably in the eyes of their constituents.
These cowards want to be reelected, and holding a vote for or against war could have negative effects on their reelection chances. So they have decided to do nothing – like they have done since taking office – hoping that the next congress in 2015 will be brave enough to actually do what the Constitution demands.
In his interview with the New York Times, Boehner explained that a new congress would be the ones holding this vote on war! The war we have already began fighting.
Doing this with a whole group of members who are on their way out the door, I don’t think that is the right way to handle this.”
The amazing and ironic thing is that John Boehner and the Republicans in Congress are currently suing President Obama for following his constitutional authorities. They claim that the President is doing too much through Executive Privileges, and they are taking the president to court to essentially stop him from working. This war against ISIS, or ISIL as thery are called by White House personnel, is the work of the President. Knowing that congress would not act, the President is yet again, left holding the bag, doing it on his own.
But what about the Constitution, the document every member of Congress swore to uphold when they took office? What should happen when these members, these congressional cowards decide for whatever reason, to turn their back on the the very document they are supposed to follow? That Constitution, that document containing the rules, the regulations and what is expected of every member of Congress. That document they pledged to follow. What happens when they choose to rip that document to pieces?
Republicans say their are the protectors of the Constitution. They print it up into little booklets and it is required reading by all when it fits their politics. But when their leaders blatantly disregard the document, blatantly refuse to follow its requirements, these same “protectors of the Constitution” turn a blind eye and vote again, and again, to keep their so-called ‘leaders’ in office.
And somewhere along the way, our democracy suffers and the society that separates us from the rest of the world crumbles. These so-called leaders are ripping apart the very fabric of what makes us exceptional, but, whatever. No one cares!
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