Nasrallah: "America is the mother of terrorism"

Full Speech: 24-Sep-2014 (Tue), 27-Zeiqad - 1435 Nasrallah: "America is the mother of terrorism" Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah asserted that the case of the kidnapped army soldiers is merely humanitarian and national and that it does not concern a certain sect, area or political faction, yet "pertains all the Lebanese." Sayyed Nasrallah noted that since the very beginning, all political forces in and outside cabinet and the media should have dealt with the cause in an appropriate manner. "Everyone's goal must be the return of the troops as soon as possible," Sayyed Nasrallah added, "Unfortunately some parties have turned the case into a substance for debate, sectarian incitement and distortion of facts. They have made demands that exceed the demands of the kidnappers themselves." Hezbollah leader added that the party usually avoids speaking in public on critical cases, such as those of Aazaz hostages, yet what has happened in the course of the kidnapped army soldiers case has obliged us to speak publicly about it. Sayyed Nasrallah noted that among the reasons that pushed him to speak in public were protecting the dignity of the Army and the families of the kidnapped and the martyrs as well as the distortion which accompanied the case. The terrorist attack against the army posts in Arsal was falsely attributed to the arrest of the militant commander Imad Joumaa because such an attack needs a lot of preparations, according to his eminence. Sayyed Nasrallah offered condolences to the families of all the army martyrs, including Abbas Medlej, Ali al-Sayyed and Mohammad Hamiyeh, appreciating the national stances of their families and saluting their sacrifices. Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that the Lebanese government is responsible for facing the crisis and all the political factions must support it, adding it is normal to engage in negotiations and we had negotiated in an indirect manner with the Zionist entity over captives and the bodies of martyrs." This is the normal approach. We have never rejected the principle of negotiations." "Anyone telling you that Hezbollah has rejected the principle of negotiations would be lying for political motives. We have never rejected the principle of negotiations at all." "From the very first day, we have said that negotiations should be conducted from a position of strength. No one should deal with the kidnappers from a helpless position and all cards of strength must be put on the table before going to negotiations." "The mediators and the kidnappers must be informed of Lebanon's cards of strength," His eminence stated, "Lebanon has been suffering from political humiliation for weeks due to some political practices." "The negotiating side should study the kidnappers demands. Some may be acceptable and others may be not; these demands should be discussed." "Nobody is addressing such issue as the kidnapped soldiers issue through only one scenario. We hope that this case stay far from auctions and settling of accounts." "It is the right of the state to reject negotiation as the kidnappers pursue killing and slaughtering." The terrorist kidnappers slaughter the abducted soldiers because they aim at inciting the seditions across the country, Sayyed Nasrallah warned. "Assaulting the Syrian refugees and conducting counter-kidnappings are unacceptable as they serve the terrorists' interests and threaten the national security." Sayyed Nasrallah noted that when Hezbollah announced that he is battling in Al-Quseir, some rejected this announcement, but "We wanted from the beginning to disassociate Lebanon from the crisis in Syria and called on those who want to fight us to go to Syria." Hezbollah Secretary General stated that the party is against ISIL and all the takfiri groups, yet he asserted that he (Hezbollah) has also a principled position against the US military intervention. Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the US is not morally qualified to lead an anti-terrorism coalition because it is the mother of terrorism as it supports the terrorist entity (the Israeli entity) and it has participated in establishing the terrorist groups in Syria, Iraq and in other countries. Sayyed Nasrallah considered that this international coalition was created to protect the US interests at the expense of those of the Arabs and their governments, noting that such a coalition is a pretext for a foreign intervention in our region. "Lebanon must not be part of this US-led international coalition because it endangers its interests." Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that those who want to support Lebanon can do so through three points -- cutting off the financing of terrorism; halting the training, arming and dispatch of fighters to Lebanon; speeding up support to the army; and helping Lebanon resolve the refugee crisis. Hezbollah leader asserted that the terrorists can never storm Lebanon and are unable to reach Beirut and other cities and areas across the country, adding that the Lebanese possess all the capabilities to fight and defeat terrorism. Sayyed Nasrallah called on all the Lebanese to unite against the terrorist threat. Sayyed Nasrallah finally hailed Gaza victory and steadfastness and congratulated the Yemenis on the national agreement, describing it as a historic opportunity to pull Yemen out of its complicated problems. Source: Al-Manar If you understand Arabic - Hezbollah leader Sayed Hassan Nasrullah speech كلمة الأمين العام لحزب الله السيد حسن نصر الله 23-9-2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxXHAUsqXCU&feature=youtu.be Photo 4 hrs · Edited · Public Like · 2 Comments · Share · Report 21 people like this. Haider Moqawama COMPILED BY Rania Masri Highlights from ‪#‎Nasrallah‬'s speech. Three main points discussed: (1) Kidnapping of Lebanese soldiers; (2) attacks against Syrian refugees in Lebanon; and (3) US strikes against Syria (1) - The kidnapping of the Lebanese soldiers is a nationalist, humanitarian, ethical issue - and not a political or sectarian issue! Unfortunately, some altered this issue into daily sectarian incitement, fabrication of lies, & demands more than the terrorists! Let's focus on returning the soldiers to their families! We (‪#‎Hezbollah‬) never refused the principle of negotiations! Anyone who claims otherwise is lying for political gain. We need to negotiate from a position of strength, and not from a position of weakness . We need to reiterate our positions of strength! It is wrong to present Lebanon and its army and its people as weak and pathetic to a small group of terrorists! We need to negotiate from strength, and not to negotiate publicly. Positions should be stated directly to the ones authorized to negotiate! Otherwise, chaos and pity would arise. Our position: study the demands of the kidnappers - maybe there is something reasonable. Furthermore, it is reasonable to have different scenarios & different options, rather than depending on only one option, and, again, these scenarios should not be discussed in the media. For the soldiers & their families, for the Lebanese army, for the country, let's remove this issue from political partisanship! (2) No Syrian refugee should be attacked; Do not hold them responsible for the crimes of the terrorists. One of the objectives of the terrorists is to create internal violence amongst Lebanese and Syrians and to create sectarian violence in Lebanon. Blaming Syrian refugees for the abduction of the Lebanese soldiers is unacceptable on the humanitarian, religious, moral levels. Furthermore, retaliatory kidnapping is unethical, amoral, and not strategic. It only achieves the objectives of the armed militias & their sectarian goals. The armed kidnappers are the ones that want to bring the war to Lebanon, and not #Hezbollah. (3) What is happening regionally, and what is this so-called international coalition to face ISIS? Everyone knows that #Hezbollah is against ISIS, and against the takfiri attitude and ideology. Don't claim that our opposition to this coalition is a defense of ISIS. Such claims are deliberate attempts to confuse and misguide, and to fabricate lies. With regards to US armed intervention or US-led coalition, this is another issue, that needs to be discussed from several points. We are against, by principle, any US military intervention - regardless of its alleged reasoning and regardless who is under target. Whether the US wants to bomb Syria against the Syrian gov't (as they wanted to do last summer) or against ISIS, we remain against its military intervention. We are principled. We do not change our perspective on US military intervention based on its alleged reasons, like others do. Why? 1- We consider the US to be "a mother of terrorism." 2- US is main supporter of Israel, which is the source of terrorism in the region. 3 - The US participated in creating this takfiri ideology its claims it wants to destroy now. 4 - The US lacks any moral legitimacy to present itself as a leader against terrorism, from its crimes in Hiroshima to its support of the killing of thousands in Gaza. 5 - Obama has stated clearly: he is defending US interests. Why then should we support a defense of US interests? 6 - It is the right of Lebanese, Iraqis, Syrians to doubt the US actions. Now, suddenly, US humanitarism has been awakened? Really? 7 - The US is seeking its own interests, including increasing US military bases in the region, ones that were rejected previously! Let's remember at the start of 2006 war, we were offered: surrender weapons, return the Israeli captives unconditionally, and accept int'l armed coalition (not UN) in the South of Lebanon. We rejected that offer in 2006 war. Who says this is not what they want now --armed forces on seaports and elsewhere in the region, be they NATO or US military bases. We reject Lebanon joining any international coalition led by the US. It is not in Lebanon's interests, rather joining such a coalition would be a threat to Lebanon. Furthermore, Lebanon does not need to join such a coalition. We have no gain from such collaboration. We can face this danger as Lebanese! Despite our divisions, Lebanon remains able to face this danger of ISIS! If the International community is so eager to help Lebanon, we have our demands. (1) We ask the international community: Stop funding, arming, and training the armed terrorists targeting Lebanon! (2) We ask the international community to quickly support the Lebanese army; and (3) We ask the international community to solve the problem of Syrian refugees. Anyone who wants to help Lebanon, can help us in those three points. As for the threats, Yes, Lebanese are able to respond to ANY terrorist threat facing us! ISIS, you cannot reach Beirut. All Lebanese areas, through the Lebanese army and the resilience of the people and the people's sense of national responsibility, must be - and will be - protected. All Lebanese areas, regardless of its religion or geography or political positioning, need to be protected. We need to be one united hand - to protect all of Lebanon. Dismissing one area under attack because it is of a certain political persuasion is dangerous! We remain alive, so no one can threaten Lebanese in this manner. Undoubtedly, the region is facing critical issues - from Syria to Iraq. We must all be prepared and be diligent. Regionally... A salute to the brave resistance in Gaza and its heroes - for this real military - and political - victory achieved in Gaza. Israel's political objectives failed. ‪#‎Yemen‬, we must congratulate the dear people in Yemen for this reconciliation and national, historic peace agreement We hope that the peaceful ‪#‎Bahraini‬ people will achieve their goals and objectives We are a part of this region; we feel sadness and happiness with all the people in this region, and hope all can overcome the challenges and threats. the region is under a serious threat. We can transform those threats into opportunities. [Note: All the translation above is my own (Rania Masri). I noticed some translating errors in other's tweets of his speech.]

Iraqi Cleric’s Speech Strikes a Balance : New al Qaeda wing ( عاصب الرأس) in South Asia claims major attack

In attack by al Qaeda, lines blur between Pakistan's military, militants Wed, Oct 01 02:39 AM EDT By Syed Raza Hassan and Katharine Houreld KARACHI Pakistan/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Months after Owais Jakhrani was sacked from the Pakistan navy for radical Islamist views, he led an audacious mission to take over a warship and turn its guns on a U.S. naval vessel in the open seas. The early September dawn raid at a naval base in the southern city of Karachi was thwarted, but not before Jakhrani, two officers and an unidentified fourth assailant snuck past a patrol boat in a dinghy and engaged in an intense firefight on or around the warship, PNS Zulfiqar. Four people were killed in the attempt to hijack the Zulfiqar, including Jakhrani and two accomplices, who were serving sub-lieutenants, according to police reports seen by Reuters. Officials are divided about how much support the young man in his mid-20s had from inside the navy. They also stress that Jakhrani and his accomplices were a long way from achieving their aim when they were killed. But the attack, claimed by al Qaeda's newly created South Asian wing, has highlighted the threat of militant infiltration into Pakistan's nuclear-armed military. The issue is a sensitive one for Pakistan's armed forces, which have received billions of dollars of U.S. aid since 2001 when they joined Washington's global campaign against al Qaeda. According to an initial statement from al Qaeda, the plan was to use the Zulfiqar to attack a U.S. navy vessel, meaning potential loss of American lives and a blow to relations between the two nations. A further statement issued by the group identified the target as USS Supply, a US naval ship used to refuel warships at sea. The Indian navy was also a target, the statement said. It urged followers to “make jihad on the seas one of their priorities," according to the SITE intelligence group, which monitors extremist communications. A naval spokesman said an inquiry was still ongoing when Reuters contacted the military with detailed questions about the incident. The military typically does not publish its inquiries. "The Reuters story is not based on facts," he said. "All the facts will be ascertained once the inquiry is finalised." Most Pakistani military officials deny infiltration is a significant problem. Yet Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told parliament the attackers could only have breached security with inside help. One navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, said at least eight navy personnel had been arrested based on the attackers' phone records, including four aboard the Zulfiqar. Three serving mid-level lieutenant commanders from Karachi were also arrested in the western city of Quetta, allegedly trying to flee to Afghanistan two days after the botched raid, officials said. Further arrests were made in Karachi, Peshawar, and northwestern Pakistan, they added. THE "MASTERMIND" The plot's mastermind was sub-lieutenant Jakhrani, either 25 or 26 years old, whose father is a senior police officer in Karachi, officials said. He was fired several months ago during his probationary training period, according to a senior naval officer. "He used to ask questions about why there is no break for prayers given during the course of training sessions," the officer said. "He used to question seniors." Earlier this year, Jakhrani traveled to Afghanistan to meet militant leaders and receive combat training, according to two officials. They said that he had told his bosses before departing that he needed to take leave to study for exams. But Jakhrani failed his exams and alarmed colleagues with his militant views. "We found literature and material on his person that no one can be allowed to have. His colleagues reported his views and he was then closely watched and monitored and finally dismissed," one official said. Once he left the navy, information on his movements and plans was patchy. Intelligence officials tipped off the navy days before the attack that a raid was imminent, according to two officials. But Jakhrani, who had an insider's knowledge of the Karachi base, did not appear to be closely monitored. Imtiaz Gul, head of the Islamabad-based think tank the Centre for Research and Security Studies, said senior generals were aware of a long-standing weakness in surveillance of military officials dismissed for extremism. "They don't have a tracking system for officers who are dismissed or asked to leave the service (for radical views)," said Gul. "That makes it very difficult to track if they have joined extremist groups." Chris Rawley, vice president of the Washington D.C.-based think tank the Center for International Maritime Security, said the attack never looked likely to succeed. But underlining one of the United States' biggest fears, he added: "The fact that maybe there are some collaborators in the navy is worrying because maybe there are collaborators among others that have purview over nuclear weapons." Similar fears about militant infiltration and the sympathies of junior officers were raised after sophisticated attacks penetrated a Karachi naval base in 2011 and the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009. THE ATTACK The Karachi attack came two days after al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri announced the formation of a new wing, al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. The region, stretching across India to Bangladesh, is home to more than 400 million Muslims. "The targets were the American and the Indian navies!" the group said in a statement carried by SITE intelligence group. The statement threatened U.S. naval allies that seek to secure maritime routes and prevent the movement of militants. It claimed that jihadi fighters had launched an attack aboard the Zulfiqar and another ship, the PNS Aslat, and had killed many naval officers. A police report that Reuters saw recorded one sailor's death on the Zulfiqar and did not mention the Aslat. Militants have launched attacks on top Pakistani security installations before, but this plot sought to strike at the heart of the alliance between Pakistan and the United States. At least four attackers wearing navy uniforms snuck past the patrol boat, arriving at the Zulfiqar as the dawn shift change was due, a navy official said. A sailor on board challenged them, leading to a shootout that ended when the ship's gunner fired anti-ship guns at the attackers, according to the navy official and the police report. "The special services group commandos arrived from their nearby base and eliminated at least one attacker who had taken position below the deck," said a naval officer who worked on the base. "Meanwhile, reinforcements of naval commandos came from the nearby (unit) Iqbal. The commandos came in with their gadgetry of jammers and a lab which absorbed all the data being transmitted from the ship at that moment." In total, three attackers and one sailor were killed, police reports and autopsies showed. A policeman said he raced to the dockyard when he heard a blast, but the military told him it was part of celebrations for Pakistan Defence Day, which fell on the day of the attack. The navy official said it was not clear what caused the blast, but it could have been either a grenade or suicide vest. Witnesses' statements differ in some aspects to an account given by another security official, who said Jakhrani and five attackers were killed by a gunner on the ship who fired on their dinghy before they boarded. One Pakistani security official said the threat posed by the plot to a U.S. ship in the region should not be exaggerated.

"It was not a success and trying to make it look like it was is unfair propaganda. Hijacking a navy ship isn't a joke," the official said. "We can all be alarmists if we want but this is not some Hollywood film."

(Writing by Katharine Houreld; Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik in Islamabad, Gul Yousufzai in Quetta, Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Raju Gopalakrishnan) =============== 14 Pakistanis freed from U.S. custody in Afghanistan's Bagram prison: lawyers Sat, Sep 20 14:19 PM EDT By Katharine Houreld ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Fourteen Pakistani detainees were released from U.S. custody in Bagram Prison in Afghanistan and repatriated to Pakistan on Saturday, a Pakistani legal firm representing some of the prisoners said. Justice Project Pakistan has been representing several Bagram detainees since 2010 in a bid to force the Pakistani government to bring them home. So far no information has been provided by the Pakistani authorities on the names of the released detainees or their current whereabouts, said Sarah Belal, a lawyer with Justice Project Pakistan. One of the released detainees is 29-year-old Abdul Halim Saifullah, Belal said, citing information from the Red Cross. She said he disappeared nine years ago from the southern city of Karachi after dropping his father off at a hospital and has been detained in Bagram ever since. Including the group released on Saturday, 39 Pakistanis have been released from Bagram in the past 10 months. At least one Pakistani is thought to still be in prison there, although the exact numbers are unclear since no official list has been provided since 2012. Sarah Belal, lead counsel for Justice Project Pakistan, said the government did not inform the families about the release and she feared the men may now be transferred to secret Pakistani prisons. "We still don't know about the whereabouts of the nine detainees released last month. The lack of clarity with today's tranche gives us reason to fear that they too may be held incommunicado by the Pakistani authorities," she said. (Editing by Greg Mahlich) ============= شقيق ارهابي منشق: قادة "‫#‏داعش‬" تقيم الملاهي الليلية و تتعاطى ‫#‏المخدرات‬ أكد خالد المطيري، شقيق الارهابي السعودي أحمد ثامر الشاطري المطيري المنشق عن جماعة "داعش" الارهابية أن السبب الرئيسي لفرار أخيه اكتشافه تعاطي قادة "داعش" المخدرات، وإقامة الملاهي الليلية، وسَبْي النساء، وقتل المسلمين. لمزيد من التفاصيل متابعة الخبر على الرابط :http://www.alghadeer.tv/news/detail/18899/ The brother of a dissident: terrorist leaders "# daash evaluates nightclubs and drug abuse # said Delaney, a brother of Saudi terrorist Ahmed thamir Al shatri MUTAIRI dissident terrorist group" daash "that the main reason for the defection of his brother discovered the abuse" leaders "drugs, daash establishment of nightclubs, and enchant the women, kill Muslims. The brother of a terrorist splinter: leaders "Daash" evaluate nightclubs and drug dealing Sunday, September 21, 2014 - 13:05 According to the online "daily life" on Sunday, said al-Mutairi revealed that his brother Ahmed, who fled from the "Daash" and turned himself in, not the vocalist for the section known as "O Asb head", but it is for his brother, the third Saad, who is still with those terrorist group. He said to me three brothers, Fahd and Ahmed Saad, all came out to fight in Syria, after the announcement of the call to fight in social networking sites, etc., and they Baltgrir them. He said al-Mutairi: "He died my elder brother Fahd at the hands of the Syrian army after a month of his arrival in Syria, and to joining Front victory," noting that his two brothers Saad and Ahmed Anhqa Front victory and joined thereafter to "Daash", and sang Saad clip (O Asb head) on the Internet. " He said that section confirms the ignorance of his brother and deceived him, and not thinking of the consequences of this section and its dimensions, noting that his brother Ahmed, "remained committed to silence and the fear of how to return and not of allegiance to Daash that do not bear the name of any impact." The Al-Mutairi that the reasons for not swear allegiance to Ahmed's "Daash" and fleeing them is watching "kill Muslims and vision to those who are being slaughtered while repeating the certificate, as well as his vision of leadership (Daash) and joined under the banner they use drugs, and staying nightclubs, and insulting women, which raised likes How to bear the name of the state Daash show that the appearance of the hardline carry out such acts. " Ended. For more details follow the news link: http://www.alghadeer.tv/news/detail/18899/ (Translated by Bing) شقيق ارهابي منشق: قادة "داعش" تقيم الملاهي الليلية و تتعاطى المخدرات الأحد 21 سبتمبر 2014 - 13:05 شقيق ارهابي منشق: قادة "داعش" تقيم الملاهي الليلية و تتعاطى المخدرات أكد خالد المطيري، شقيق الارهابي السعودي أحمد ثامر الشاطري المطيري المنشق عن جماعة "داعش" الارهابية أن السبب الرئيسي لفرار أخيه اكتشافه تعاطي قادة "داعش" المخدرات، وإقامة الملاهي الليلية، وسَبْي النساء، وقتل المسلمين. وافاد موقع "صحيفة الحياة" اليوم الاحد، ان المطيري كشف أن شقيقه أحمد، الذي فر من "داعش" وسلم نفسه، لم يكن المنشد للمقطع المعروف "يا عاصب الرأس"، وإنما هو لشقيقه الثالث سعد الذي لايزال مع تلك الجماعة الارهابية. وقال: لي 3 إخوة، فهد وسعد وأحمد، خرجوا جميعا للقتال في سوريا، بعد الاعلان عن الدعوة للقتال في مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي وغيرها، وقاموا بالتغرير بهم. وأضاف المطيري: "توفي أخي الأكبر فهد على يد الجيش السوري بعد شهر من وصوله إلى سوريا، وانضمامه إلى جبهة النصرة"، مشيرا أن شقيقيه سعد وأحمد انشقا عن جبهة النصرة وانضما بعد ذلك الى "داعش"، وانشد سعد مقطع (يا عاصب الرأس) على الإنترنت". واعتبر ان المقطع يؤكد جهل اخيه والتغرير به، وعدم تفكيره بعواقب هذا المقطع وأبعاده، مشيرا الى ان شقيقه أحمد "بقي ملتزما الصمت والخوف من كيفية العودة وعدم المبايعة لداعش التي لا تحمل من اسمها أي أثر". وأكد المطيري أن أسباب عدم مبايعة أحمد لـ "داعش" و فراره منهم هو مشاهدته"قتلهم المسلمين ورؤيته لمن يُذبح وهو يردد الشهادة، وكذلك رؤيته قيادة (داعش) والمنضمين تحت لوائه وهم يتعاطون المخدرات، ويقيمون الملاهي الليلية، ويَسْبون النساء، الأمر الذي أثار تعجبه كيف لدولة تحمل اسم لداعش وتظهر بمظهر المتشدد أن تقوم بمثل هذه الأعمال". انتهى.== ============= By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and DAN BILEFSKYSEPT. 19, 2014 Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is influential among Shiites. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images BAGHDAD — Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential Shiite cleric, on Friday urged vigilance against Western political interference in Iraqi affairs but stopped short of opposing the American-led military campaign against the extremists of the Islamic State. “All political leaders of the country must be aware and awake to prevent the external assistance against the Islamic State from becoming an entrance to breach Iraq’s independence,” Ayatollah Sistani said. “Cooperation with the international effort shall not be taken as a pretext to impose foreign decisions on events in Iraq, especially military events.” His carefully balanced comments, in a statement read by his spokesman at Friday Prayer in the Iraqi city of Karbala, underscored the challenge facing the United States and its allies in their efforts to push back the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, without bolstering or antagonizing rival Shiite factions. U.S. Faces Tough Struggle on Ground to Oust ISISSEPT. 18, 2014 A rebel leader, Sheikh Tawfiq Shahabuddin, right, on Monday in Reyhanli, Turkey. “The international position has to be to fight all kinds of terrorism,” he said. U.S. Goal Is to Make Syrian Rebels ViableSEPT. 18, 2014 An image from a video titled “Lend Me Your Ears — Messages from the British Detainee John Cantlie,” which was posted on YouTube. New ISIS Video Features British Hostage, John Cantlie, as SpokesmanSEPT. 18, 2014 The ayatollah’s comments came shortly after the office of President François Hollande of France announced that French fighter jets had carried out their first attacks on Islamic State targets in Iraq, fulfilling his pledge a day earlier to join the international military campaign against the group. Photo A Rafale fighter at France's Al Dhafra airbase in Abu Dhabi this week. Credit Taieb Mahjoub/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images In recent days, a handful of other Iraqi Shiite leaders or militias with closer ties to Iran have made statements expressing more wariness or opposition to the American-led military efforts, and American officials have said the Iranian proxies may be seeking to remind the Western states that Tehran, too, should be taken into account. On Friday, the Iraqi cleric Moktada al-Sadr, another influential voice with ties to Iran, called for a demonstration in Baghdad on Saturday to protest a potential incursion by American ground forces. But Ayatollah Sistani, considered both independent and uniquely popular here, was more judicious. While he warned Iraqis to guard against foreign interference, he also appeared to endorse the idea that foreign help may be required to successfully engage the Sunni extremists. “Iraq may be in need of assistance from its friends and brothers to combat black terrorism,” Ayatollah Sistani said. But he insisted that for Iraq, “preserving its sovereignty and independence must be the most important thing and must be taken into consideration.” He also appealed for intersectarian solidarity in the fight against the extremists by specifically urging support for Dhuluiya, a Sunni town that has held out for months against a siege by the Sunni extremists. “Our brave Iraqi forces should help and defend Dhuluiya,” he said, “because its people are our brothers and they are the sons of our country.” Continue reading the main story Graphic How ISIS Works With oil revenues, arms and organization, the jihadist group controls vast stretches of Syria and Iraq and aspires to statehood. OPEN Graphic Elsewhere, French Rafale warplanes struck a logistics depot belonging to the Islamic State in northeastern Iraq on Friday. Mr. Hollande said in a statement, “The objective was hit and entirely destroyed.” Mr. Hollande said other operations would take place in the coming days. Remarking on the violent tactics employed by the Sunni militants, who have conquered wide areas of Iraq and Syria, Mr. Hollande said Thursday at a news conference in Paris that the group had been able to grow partly because the international community had failed to intervene. But he emphasized that France’s role would be limited to providing air support, including strikes, in Iraq. Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story He indicated that France would not expand its mission into Syria, and French officials have made it clear that the government does not want to give the impression that it supports the Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad. Continue reading the main story Graphic The Iraq-ISIS Conflict in Maps, Photos and Video A visual guide to the crisis in Iraq and Syria. OPEN Graphic France was a vociferous opponent of the American-led effort to overthrow Saddam Hussein in 2003, and analysts say the French public remains wary of sustained Western intervention in the region. Mr. Hollande, whose domestic political approval rating has hit a low of 13 percent amid persistent economic troubles, has framed the fight against Islamic State as important for French national security. In Washington, Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, said American troop levels in Iraq could increase as Iraqi security forces and Kurdish pesh merga fighters press their fight to retake territory seized by the Islamic State. General Odierno, who served as the top American military commander in Iraq, said the 1,600 American troops who are currently on the ground in Iraq was “a good start.” He added, “I don’t think there’s a rush — a rush to have lots of people in there now.” But during a breakfast meeting with reporters, he did not rule out the possibility of sending more American military advisers to Iraq. President Obama has repeatedly said that he will not send American ground combat troops to Iraq. In northern Syria, an Islamic State offensive has driven thousands of Syrian Kurds from their homes, with many fleeing across the border into Turkey on Friday, prompting a call by an Iraqi Kurdish leader for international intervention. In recent days, extremist fighters seized villages in northern Syria, officials said, and on Friday were attacking the mainly Kurdish town of Ayn al-Arab, known as Kobani in Kurdish, on the Turkish border, news services reported. “I’d like to ask the international community to take every measure as soon as possible to save Kobani,” Massoud Barzani, president of the largely autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, said in a statement. The militants, he said, “have to be hit and defeated wherever they are.” David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Baghdad, and Dan Bilefsky from Paris. Reporting was contributed by Kirk Semple from Erbil, Iraq, Omar al-Jawoshy from Baghdad, Maïa de la Baume from Paris, and Helene Cooper from Washington. ================================ New al Qaeda wing in South Asia claims major attack Reuters By Maria Golovnina 16 hours ago PNS Zulfiqar By Maria Golovnina ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's South Asia wing has claimed responsibility for hijacking a Pakistani naval ship and trying to use it to fire rockets at U.S. vessels in the Arabian Sea, in the first major assault by the newly created group. The SITE monitoring service quoted its spokesman, Usama Mahmoud, as saying a group of militants had succeeded in seizing control of the Pakistani frigate PNS Zulfiqar and tried to use it to attack nearby U.S. vessels. "These mujahideen had taken control of the Pakistani ship, and they were advancing towards the American fleet when the Pakistani army stopped them," he said. "As a result, the mujahideen, the lions of Allah and benefactors of the Ummah, sacrificed their lives for Allah, and the Pakistani soldiers spoiled their hereafter by giving up their lives in defense of the enemies of the Ummah the Americans." SITE said Mahmoud's statement also provided a picture and a detailed layout of the PNS Zulfiqar. .. View gallery PAKISTAN-SUDAN/ Pakistan Navy Zulfiqar-class frigate PNS Shamsheer docks at Port Sudan, in Sudan's Red Sea State, No … The navy and the army's press wing were not immediately available for comment. The naval yard on Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast is a strategically important facility at the center of U.S.-Pakistani security, anti-terrorism and anti-trafficking cooperation. The foiled attack comes at a time when regional powers are already concerned about stability as U.S.-led forces continue to withdraw from neighboring Afghanistan, potentially creating a security gap for insurgents to exploit. The attack, which lasted several hours, also shows just how much the Islamist militants are capable of striking at the heart of Pakistan's vast security apparatus and raises questions about the nuclear-armed nation's ability to guard its installations. The Pakistani Taliban, closely allied with al Qaeda, had earlier said that the Sept. 6 attack was carried out with the help of insiders. Pakistan later arrested a number of navy personnel on suspicion of collaborating with the attackers. Al Qaeda announced the formation of the new group on Sept. 4, with its chief, Ayman al-Zawahri, promising to spread Islamic rule and "raise the flag of jihad" across South Asia, home to more than 400 million Muslims. Analysts say the move is part of al Qaeda's plan to take advantage of the planned withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan and boost its influence in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region as well as India. It also comes against the backdrop of a full-scale operation launched by Pakistan's military against Taliban militants in the lawless region of North Waziristan following a deadly attack on the airport in the city of Karachi in June. (Editing by Nick Macfie) ====================== September 18, 2014, 7:14 AM Al Qaeda's quiet plan to outdo ISIS and hit U.S. WASHINGTON -- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) may be dominating the headlines and stealing attention with its prolific propaganda, but CBS News' Bob Orr reports, another group in Syria -- one few have even heard of because information about it has been kept secret -- is considered a more urgent concern. Sources tell CBS News that operatives and explosives experts from Osama bin Laden's old al Qaeda network may again present an immediate threat to the U.S. homeland. CIA insider on threat posed by new Syrian terror group more dangerous than ISIS At two dozen foreign airports, U.S.-bound passengers are undergoing enhanced security screening. Agents are searching for hidden explosives. Laptops and phones with dead batteries have been banned from flights. Great Britain raised its national terror threat level, and the FBI is tracking American jihadists who may return home. Sources say it's due to the emerging threat in Syria, where hardened terrorists loyal to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri are working on new, hard-to-detect bombs. In testimony Wednesday, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Matt Olsen -- who warned that U.S. agencies are unable to effectively track Western jihadists inside Syria -- seemed to make a vague reference to the threat. "In Syria, we've seen veteran al Qaeda fighters travel from Pakistan to take advantage of the permissive environment there," said Olsen. Sources confirm that the al Qaeda cell goes by the name "Khorasan." Unlike ISIS, which is believed at present to be largely engulfed in its fight for territory. Khorasan is developing fresh plots to target U.S. aviation, and it's trying to recruit Westerners who have flocked to the fight in Syria, some of whom have joined the al Qaeda franchise in the country, known as the al-Nusra Front. The fear is that U.S. and European passport holders could more easily smuggle explosives onto airplanes. Asked if there was anything about the threat he could reveal to lawmakers during the public testimony on Capitol Hill, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said discussions about "specific organizations... should be left to a classified setting." Play Video Al Qaeda chief bomb maker alive: Yemen official Sources tell CBS News the group includes technicians trained by al Qaeda's master bomb-builder, Ibrahim al-Asiri. The Yemen-based Asiri built the infamous but ultimately unsuccessful underwear bombs and two cargo bombs concealed in printer cartridges. He is considered one of the most innovative bomb-builders in the jihadist world, and he's still operating freely -- at least for now. CIA chief John Brennan recently told Orr that U.S. officials were "doing what we can" to track Asiri down, and predicted that his "time will come." At the moment, U.S. officials say there is no specific, credible threat to the homeland. But as information about Khorasan becomes available, it's clear that al Qaeda remains obsessed with bombs, airplanes, and attacking the United States. ================================== Iraqi soldiers describe heavy losses as Islamic State overruns camp . Reuters By Ahmed Rasheed and Saif Sameer Hameed 1. Group: Islamic militants killed 770 Iraqi troops Associated Press 2. Survivors demand justice after Iraq massacre Reuters 3. Clashes Between Iraqi Soldiers And Islamic State Leave Dozens Dead And Missing Huffington Post 4. U.S. air strikes target insurgents near Iraq's Haditha Dam Reuters 5. Islamic State militants kill 40 Iraqi troops Associated Press BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi soldiers described on Monday how Islamic State fighters inflicted heavy losses in a chaotic raid on a military base just an hour's drive from Baghdad, highlighting the jihadists' ability to attack high-profile targets despite U.S. air strikes. Soldiers, officials and tribal sources gave differing accounts of what happened on Sunday when the militants stormed the camp at Saqlawiya that they had been besieging. However, casualties among the Iraqi government forces appear to have been very heavy, with many soldiers either dead, forced to flee or missing following the assault near the city of Falluja, which Islamic State has controlled since January. A statement for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said he had issued orders to detain two commanders for "negligence" in the incidents 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, while some troops who escaped accused the military leadership of failing to help them during the siege. Islamic State fighters seized large areas of northern and western Iraq in a summer offensive, drawing accusations of extreme brutality and prompting the U.S. air attacks after they advanced on an autonomous Kurdish region. Their raid at Saqlawiya is the latest since the northern city of Mosul fell to Islamic State in June to exposes the Iraqi military's shortcomings. It followed a massacre of an army detachment at Camp Speicher in the same month, in which military recruits were led off the base unarmed and murdered in their hundreds. Like at Camp Speicher, it remains unclear how many men were present at the base in Saqlawiya and how many are now dead and missing. However one officer who survived the raid said that of an estimated 1,000 soldiers in Saqlawiya, only about 200 had managed to flee. "This failure is not the fault of the soldiers ... the mistake was that of the military leadership, they failed," said the officer, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. The officer said that Islamic State insurgents had gained control of Sijir, near Falluja, a week ago, allowing them to surround the Saqlawiya base. "We were without ammunition and without food. Every time we contacted military commanders, they promised to send helicopters to air drop reinforcements but nothing happened," said the officer, who fled to another base close to Falluja on Sunday. "We ... were drinking salty well water and eating canned tomato paste." The government statement quoted the spokesman of the armed forces general command as saying that orders had been issued four days ago for supplies and military reinforcements to be sent to Saqlawiya and Sijir, in addition to intensifying overflights. On Wednesday, the insurgents sent a Humvee vehicle rigged with explosives into the camp. Guards mistakenly assumed that an army driver was at the wheel. "When it exploded, it caused a lot of confusion. Islamic State exploited that and entered the camp. Now most of regiment headquarters within the base are under the control of Islamic State," said the officer, adding that one, small army unit remained besieged in the camp. "KILOMETER OF DEATH" About 200 soldiers managed to escape the base on Sunday after battling with the militants in the area which soldiers call the "kilometer of death". "On the road, the images were tragic. Burnt Humvees and burnt corpses of soldiers are still on the streets," said the officer who retreated to the nearby Camp Tareq. One soldier, identified as a Saqlawiya camp survivor, recounted his testimony in a video that was shown on Iraqi state television and widely circulated online. Reuters could not immediately verify its authenticity. The survivor referred to the militants sending in a booby-trapped vehicle, appearing to corroborate the testimony of the first army officer. He also mentioned the lack of food and ammunition at Saqlawiya. "Those who ran, got away and those who stayed were left behind. We left in three transport vehicles and two gas tankers and headed for Sijir," he said, adding that they found Islamic State insurgents waiting for them there too. "Again we got injured by an RPG (rocket propelled grenade) and there were those who got killed by gunfire and those who fled amid the tall grass and orchards," said the survivor, whose name was not disclosed, and who was shirtless and wearing his trouser fatigues. He said that "200 or less" soldiers managed to escape. "The bodies of slaughtered soldiers are left in Sijir and Saqlawiya on the main roads and near the factory," he said. NO ANSWERS An intelligence officer who is in charge of an area of operations that includes Saqlawiya said insurgents gained control of Sijir area last week and "the army was forced to retreat .. in the farms between Saqlawiya and Falluja". An army convoy sent in to break the siege on Sunday was ambushed by Islamic State fighters. Many soldiers were killed, others were taken prisoners and a few managed to flee, he told Reuters. The Defense Ministry said in a statement late on Sunday that it had "lost communication" with some soldiers in Sijir and Saqlawiya. At a parliamentary session on Monday at least two lawmakers asked for clarification surrounding the attacks in Saqlawiya, but did not receive any answers from officials. (Additional reporting by Raheem Salman; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Ned Parker and David Stamp) ================

Iran supreme leader spurns U.S. overture to fight Islamic State

Islamic State campaign tests Obama's commitment to Mideast allies Wed, Sep 17 09:45 AM EDT image By Jason Szep WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After about 15 hours of flying and five hours of meetings, sleep finally caught up with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Baghdad. It was 6:04 p.m. After sinking into his seat at the center of the cavernous interior of a C-17 military transport plane, he cradled his head in his palm, put his feet on a desk and shut his eyes. Visibly tired, too, were his retinue of aides as they took their seats, some clutching briefing papers with notes scribbled in the margin from meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the government he had formed a day earlier on Sept. 9. Kerry’s exhaustion was understandable after nearly 24 hours of non-stop travel and meetings. America’s fatigue in the Middle East could be a different story: the Iraqis who met Kerry may wonder if his boss, President Barack Obama, has the energy or stomach for what lies ahead in a country he has spent most of his nearly six years in office trying to leave behind. The challenge is highlighted by a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Friday showing that while Americans support Obama's campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State militants, they have a low appetite for a long campaign against the group. Several important tests loom for the U.S. administration's nascent coalition to “degrade and defeat” the ultra-hardline Islamic State whose militants have seized a third of both Iraq and Syria, declared war on the West and beheaded two American journalists and one British aid worker. The complexity of eliminating Islamic State, which requires stabilizing Iraq, building up its armed forces and creating a western-backed rebel force in Syria, could take years, testing Obama's commitment and that of whoever succeeds him in 2017. "There’s a real general distrust among our regional allies about our commitment to this because we've been missing in action for the last three years," said David Schenker, a specialist on Syria at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former Pentagon adviser on Syria during President George W. Bush’s administration. In Baghdad, Amman, Jeddah, Ankara, Cairo and Paris in the last week, Kerry laid plans for a U.S.-led coalition of regional and outside powers. It would hammer the black-clad fighters of Islamic State militarily, dry up its funding, eliminate its safe havens in Syria, block its ability to recruit fighters and try to extinguish its extremist ideology. Kerry, who will report on his trip to Obama and Congress this week, insists this is different from past U.S. operations in the region. "This is not the Gulf War of 1991," he told reporters in Paris on Monday. "And it's not the Iraq War of 2003 ... We're not building a military coalition for an invasion. We're building a military coalition together with all the other pieces for a transformation, as well as for the elimination of ISIL itself," he said, invoking an acronym for the Islamic State group. QUESTION OF COMMITMENT World powers meeting in Paris on Monday gave a symbolic boost to that effort, publicly backing military action to fight Islamic State militants in Iraq. France sent jets on a reconnaissance mission to Iraq, a step towards becoming the first ally to join the U.S.-led air campaign there and a senior U.S. official said some Arab countries had promised to take part. On Friday, Kerry will chair a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in New York, which will provide countries which quietly backed the U.S. coalition an opportunity to do so publicly. But questions remain over how far each will commit to a fight that U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday "will not be an easy or brief effort." A 45-page State Department document detailed offers of assistance from about 40 countries, but these are mostly humanitarian. Military commitments are rare and small. Albania, for instance, plans to provide 22 million rounds of AK-47 bullets, 15,000 hand grenades and 32,000 artillery shells to Kurdish forces in Iraq. U.S. fighter jets have conducted over 160 airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Iraq, resuming military action Obama and many Americans hoped were part of history when U.S. combat forces pulled out of the country in 2011. The most senior U.S. military officer, General Martin Dempsey, raised the possibility on Tuesday that American troops might need to take on a larger role in Iraq's ground war, though Obama also ruled out a combat mission. U.S. officials play down the prospect of imminent air attacks on the Islamist group's heartland in Syria and it remains unclear who, if anyone, would join them. The United States will present a legal case before going into Syria, U.S. officials say, justifying strikes largely on the basis of defending Iraq from militants who threaten its sovereignty and have taken shelter in neighboring Syria during its three-year-old civil war. "OVERALL COORDINATOR" Entering Syrian airspace would deepen a conflict that already cuts across sectarian lines. Islamic State is made up of Sunni militants fighting a Shi'ite-led government in Iraq and a government in Syria led by members of a Shi'ite offshoot sect. Briefing U.S. reporters in Paris, Kerry said there were "several discussions with foreign ministers" on how to defeat Islamic State inside Syria. He did not go into specifics, but he emphasized that it was not just about the airstrikes. Kerry and his advisers often describe the anti-Islamic State campaign as "holistic". The approach was set out in a six-paragraph communique issued on Sept. 11 and signed by 10 Arab countries - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and six Gulf states including rich rivals Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Arab states agreed to eight main tasks: stopping the flow of foreign fighters, countering Islamic State financing, repudiating their ideology, ending impunity, providing humanitarian relief, reconstruction of Islamic State-hit areas, supporting states that face "acute" Islamic State threats, and, "as appropriate, joining in the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign." The United States specifically wanted the words "as appropriate," one senior State Department official said. "We wanted to be an overall coordinator of this effort," the official said. "So, ‘as appropriate’ means as part of an overall campaign plan, and as this continues to move forward." (This story adds dropped word "State" in 25th paragraph) (Reporting by Jason Szep; Editing by David Storey and Howard Goller) ======== U.S. general says cannot rule out larger ground role in Iraq Tue, Sep 16 19:00 PM EDT image 1 of 5 By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The most senior U.S. military officer raised the possibility on Tuesday that American troops might need to take on a larger role in Iraq's ground war against Islamic State militants, but the White House stressed they would not deploy on a combat mission. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there was no intention now to place American military advisers on the ground in direct combat. U.S. assistance is taking other forms, including air strikes. Still, Dempsey outlined scenarios in which he might recommend having U.S. troops do more, potentially accompanying Iraqis during complicated offensives, such as a battle to retake the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State fighters. "It could very well be part of that particular mission - to provide close combat advising or accompanying for that mission," Dempsey said. Dempsey acknowledged that Obama's "stated policy is that we will not have U.S. ground forces in direct combat." "But he has told me as well to come back to him on a case-by-case basis," he said. Obama said last week he would lead an alliance to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, plunging the United States into a conflict in which nearly every country in the Middle East has a stake. But Obama also ruled out a combat mission, saying "we will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq." How exactly America's role might evolve in the open-ended conflict remains unclear, however. Responding to Dempsey's comments, the White House said Obama’s military advisers had to plan for many possibilities and that overall policy had not changed - that Obama would not deploy U.S. troops in a combat role in Iraq or Syria. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters that Dempsey was "referring to a hypothetical scenario in which there might be a future situation where he might make a tactical recommendation to the president as it relates to ground troops." Dempsey's spokesman also issued a statement stressing that the four-star general's exchange in the Senate was not about "employing U.S. ground combat units in Iraq." Dempsey was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, along with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, as the Obama administration makes its case to Congress for broadening operations against the Sunni militants, which would include U.S. air strikes in Syria for the first time. NO "SHOCK AND AWE' IN SYRIA The U.S. military's Central Command is due to brief Obama on its plans on Wednesday. Hagel said those plans envision striking the militant group's safe havens in Syria to knock out infrastructure, logistics and command capabilities. Dempsey said the strikes would degrade the group's capabilities as broader efforts get under way, including training of more than 5,000 Syrian rebels. "This won't look like a 'shock and awe' campaign because that's simply not how (the Islamic State militants' group) is organized. But it will be a persistent and sustainable campaign," Dempsey told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Shock and awe" was a term popularly used to describe the initial air assault on Baghdad in the U.S. campaign to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003, and refers to use of overwhelming force to undermine an enemy's will to fight. Congress is expected to approve this week a request from Obama for authorization to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels, one part of his program. Still, Hagel acknowledged the number of Syrian fighters that could be trained over the course of the year would only put the opposition on a path to roll back Islamic State fighters. "Five thousand alone is not going to be able to turn the tide. We recognize that," Hagel said. The Senate hearing was repeatedly interrupted by anti-war protesters, shouting slogans such as, "There is no military solution." One protester was escorted out of the room while holding a sign that read: "More war = More extremism." Senator Angus King of Maine, expressing concern that the United States would be drawn into interminable fights against extremist groups around the world from Iraq to Syria to Africa, said: "This is geopolitical Wack-a-mole." (Additional reporting by Missy Ryan and Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott, Susan Heavey, Bernadette Baum and Ken Wills) ================ Satan and a Jewish Woman Give Birth to ISIS in an Iraqi TV Satire, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4491.htm #IRGC commander: #US base in Northern #Iraq no threat to #Iran #ISIL #ISIS http://bit.ly/1qTNyQL IRGC commander: US base in Northern Iraq no threat to Iran September 16, 2014 3:02 pm Iraq Crisis, News, Politics, Regional Affairs no comments Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari downplayed enemies’ war rhetoric against Tehran, and said the US military base in Northern Iraq is not considered a threat to Iran. “The US base (in Iraq’s Kurdistan region) is not a threat to us and we believe that we have left behind (the era of) the superpowers’ direct threats and no matter how thoughtless the enemies can be in foreseeing the future, we believe the issue with direct threat is over now,” Jafari said in a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday. He said that the US military base in Northern Iraq is meant to support the Iraqi Kurds who have been deployed in Erbil region. Also asked about Iran’s position on the United States’ possible airstrikes on ISIL or even government positions on Syrian soil and Damascus’s possible response, Jafari said, “We will certainly show political reaction, but we will not show any direct military action.” “The Islamic Republic of Iran’s policy is supporting Syria, and this action of the United States is bullying and is condemned,” he said, but he meantime underlined, “They will regret if they take such an action.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei also warned on Monday that the US strike on Syria would be reciprocated by repenting response, although he said Iran would not be involved in such reciprocity. Also on Monday, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Hassan Firouzabadi warned the US and its allies to avoid exercising new plots in the region, saying that fighting and bombing the positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group could not be a pretext for violating the sovereignty of Syria and Iraq. “Military experts know that aerial bombardment is not the solution in the fight against terrorism and it can only be one in the chain of the military actions needed for a comprehensive fight against terrorism,” Firouzabadi said on Monday, implying the United States’ theatrical moves against terrorism. He said the experience gained in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq in the last few months showed that effective fight against terrorism should include a simultaneous use of a wide range of tactics and methods, and said, “The experienced Syrian army forces and the country’s popular forces as well as the Iraqi army and popular forces should have the main role in this campaign.” “Bombing the ISIL terrorists can no way be a permission for violating the sovereignty of the Syrian and Iraqi states,” Firouzabadi added. He stressed the necessity for the regional countries’ vigilance against the US plots, and expressed the hope that “those Muslim regional states that helped to the creation of the ISIL at the beginning of this game would relinquish this plot”. His comments came after NATO heads of state convened in the Welsh city of Newport on 4-5 September. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told foreign and defense ministers participating in the NATO summit that the US was forming a broad international coalition against ISIL. Ministers from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark met in Wales to hammer out a strategy for battling ISIL, but the policy was questioned by many regional officials and political leaders. Islamic State supporter warns of attacks against U.S.: SITE Tue, Sep 16 06:19 AM EDT image BEIRUT (Reuters) - A supporter of Islamic State militants has warned of attacks on the United States and its allies if they continue to carry out military action against the group that has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria, the SITE monitoring service said. The message on a well-known militant Islamist online forum is one of the few responses from supporters of Islamic State to Washington's announcement last week that it was prepared to extend airstrikes against the group into Syria. The posting on the Minbar Jihadi Media website condemned "intervention in the affairs of other peoples" and said it would trigger an equal response, SITE said late on Monday. "It will lead to an equal reaction of the same strength in targeting the American depth and also the nations allied to it and in all aspects," the message said in a translation from Arabic, according to SITE, which tracks militant forums. The United States has stepped up its military response to the hardline group, which has beheaded several Western hostages. On Sunday Islamic State released a video that it said showed the beheading of a British aid worker. U.S. President Barack Obama is calling for a coalition of Western and Middle Eastern countries to fight Islamic State. "I direct a sternly worded warning to each of those nations involved with America, or that are allied with it in their war against the Islamic Caliphate, that their local and international interests will be legitimate targets," the posting by a supporter referred to as "Amir al-Thul" said. The posting used religious language and said the author was speaking from a "blessed pulpit" but it was not clear what influence he had on the actions of Islamic State. The message called on the public in the United States and its allies to oppose government actions against the group. (Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Louise Ireland) ============ U.S. to Assad: Beware of interfering with U.S. air power in Syria Mon, Sep 15 19:02 PM EDT image By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Syrian military's air defenses would face retaliation if Syria attempted to respond to U.S. air strikes that are expected against Islamic State targets in Syria, senior U.S. officials said on Monday. President Barack Obama's authorization of the use of American air power against Islamic State's strongholds in Syria has raised the question of whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would respond in some way. Senior U.S. officials who briefed reporters said Assad should not interfere, that the United States has a good sense of where Syrian air defenses and command-and-control facilities are located. One official said if the Assad military were to demonstrate that it was a threat to the U.S. ability to operate in the area, it would put Syrian air defenses in the region at risk. The United States has stressed it will not coordinate with the Assad government in any way in its fight against Islamic State. Obama's position has long been that he would like to see Assad leave power, particularly after using chemical weapons against his own people last year. But air strikes against Islamic State in Syria could have the indirect effect of benefiting Assad because the extremists have been fighting the Syrian government during what is now a three-year civil war. Washington wants to train and equip Syrian rebels who are deemed to be moderate to hold territory cleared by U.S. air strikes. The U.S. military has conducted dozens of air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, but has yet to launch any in Syria as Obama works to solidify an anti-Islamic State coalition . The president will meet on Tuesday at the White House with retired Marine General John Allen, who is in charge of coordinating the activities of a coalition expected to include some Western allies and a number of Arab states. A senior U.S. official said some Arab states have agreed to join the United States in launching air strikes, but declined to identify them. (Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Bernard Orr) ========= Mon, Sep 15 19:43 PM EDT image 1 of 5 By Jason Szep and Mehrdad Balali PARIS/DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader said on Monday he had personally rejected an offer from the United States for talks to fight Islamic State, an apparent blow to Washington's efforts to build a military coalition to fight militants in both Iraq and Syria. World powers meeting in Paris on Monday gave public backing to military action to fight Islamic State fighters in Iraq. France sent jets on a reconnaissance mission to Iraq, a step toward becoming the first ally to join the U.S.-led air campaign there. But Iran, the principal ally of Islamic State's main foes in both Iraq and Syria, was not invited to the Paris meeting. The countries that did attend - while supporting action in Iraq - made no mention at all of Syria, where U.S. diplomats face a far tougher task building an alliance for action. Washington has been trying to build a coalition to fight Islamic State since last week when President Barack Obama pledged to destroy the militant group on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border. That means plunging into two civil wars in which nearly every country in the Middle East already has a stake. And it also puts Washington on the same side as Tehran, its bitter enemy since the Islamic revolution of 1979. In a rare direct intervention into diplomacy, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Washington had reached out through the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, requesting a meeting to discuss cooperation against Islamic State. "I saw no point in cooperating with a country whose hands are dirty and intentions murky," the Iranian leader said in quotes carried on state news agency IRNA. He accused Washington of "lying" by saying it had excluded Iran from its coalition, saying it was Iran that had refused to participate. Khamenei said that some Iranian officials had welcomed the contacts, but he had personally vetoed them. Khamenei's intervention, including his statement that some Iranian officials welcomed the U.S. overture, was a rare public acknowledgment of division but also a reminder that powerful interests in Iran oppose a wider thaw. "HANDS ARE DIRTY" U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was "not cooperating with Iran", but declined to be drawn on whether it had reached out through the embassy in Baghdad for talks. "I am not going to get into a back and forth," he said. "I don't think that's constructive, frankly." Islamic State fighters set off alarms across the Middle East since June when they swept across northern Iraq, seizing cities, slaughtering prisoners, proclaiming a caliphate to rule over all Muslims and ordering non-Sunnis to convert or die. IS fighters, known for beheading their enemies or captives, raised the stakes for the West by cutting off the heads of two Americans and a Briton in videos posted on the Internet which showed the prisoners bound in orange jumpsuits. French officials said they had hoped to invite Iran to Monday's conference but Arab countries had blocked the move. "We wanted a consensus among countries over Iran's attendance, but in the end it was more important to have certain Arab states than Iran," a French diplomat said. "This conference was like a mass. A big gathering where we listen to each other, but it's not where miracles happen," said another French diplomat. "It was a strong political message of support for Iraq and now we prepare to fight." Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said French aircraft would begin reconnaissance flights over Iraq. A French official said two Rafale fighters and a refueling aircraft had set off. "The throat-slitters of Daesh - that's what I'm calling them - tell the whole world 'Either you're with us or we kill you'. When one is faced with such a group there is no other attitude than to defend yourself," Fabius said at the end of the talks. Calling the decision regrettable, Iraq's Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Baghdad had wanted Iran to attend. Iran sponsors the governments of both Iraq and Syria and has been at the center of defenses against Islamic State in both countries. The United States reached out to Iran last year when secret talks led to a preliminary deal on nuclear issues. Iran has occasionally played down its conflicts with the West since President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, was elected last year. "THROAT-SLITTERS" At Monday's international conference in Paris, the five U.N. Security Council permanent members, Turkey, European and Arab states and representatives of the EU, Arab League and United Nations all pledged to help Baghdad fight Islamic State. "All participants underscored the urgent need to remove Daesh from the regions in which it has established itself in Iraq," said a statement after the talks. Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the group which now calls itself Islamic State. "To that end, they committed to supporting the new Iraqi Government in its fight against Daesh, by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance...." it said. Several Western and Arab officials said no concrete commitments were made and that talks on the different roles of those in the coalition would take place bilaterally and over the next 10 days at the United Nations General Assembly. Iraqi President Fouad Massoum told Monday's conference he hoped the Paris meeting would bring a "quick response". "Islamic State's doctrine is either you support us or kill us‎. It has committed massacres and genocidal crimes and ethnic purification," he told delegates. VOTE OF CONFIDENCE Monday's conference was an important vote of confidence for the new Iraqi government formed last week, led by a member of Iraq's Shi'ite majority, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and also including minority Sunnis and Kurds in important jobs. Iraq's allies hope Abadi will prove a more consensual leader than his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite whose policies alienated many Sunnis, and that the new government will win back support from Sunnis who had backed the Islamic State's revolt. The broad international goodwill toward Abadi shown at Monday's conference means Washington will probably face little diplomatic push back over plans for air strikes in Iraq. Syria, however, is a much trickier case. In a three-year civil war, Islamic State has emerged as one of the most powerful Sunni groups battling against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, a member of a Shi'ite-derived sect. Washington and its allies remain hostile to Assad, which means any bombing is likely to take place without permission of the Damascus government. Russia, which backs Assad, says bombing would be illegal without a resolution at the U.N. Security Council, where it has a veto. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Paris that Moscow was already providing military assistance to both Iraq and Syria, suggesting Western countries were guilty of a double standard by helping Assad's foes. "Terrorists can't be good or bad. We must be consistent and not involve our personal political projects, not prioritize them over the general goal of fighting terrorism." The United States resumed air strikes in Iraq in August for the first time since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops. Obama's plans, announced last week, involve stronger military action in Iraq and extending the campaign to Syria. U.S. officials said several Arab countries had offered to join air strikes against Islamic State, but declined to name them. Ten Arab states committed last week to a military coalition without specifying what action they would take. Britain, Washington's main ally when it invaded Iraq in 2003, has yet to confirm it will take part in air strikes, despite the killing of British aid worker David Haines by Islamic State fighters this past week. France has said it is ready to take part in bombing missions in Iraq but is so far wary of action in Syria. (Additional reporting by John Irish, Marine Pennetier, Alexandria Sage and Nicholas Vinocur,; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Peter Millership) ========== Shiite Militias Pose Challenge for U.S. in Iraq By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICKSEPT. 16, 2014 Photo Fighters with Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a Shiite militia, and Kurdish pesh merga forces on patrol earlier this month in Tikrit, Iraq. Credit Youssef Boudlal/Reuters BAGHDAD — Militia justice is simple, the fighters explained. “We break into an area and kill the ones who are threatening people,” said one 18-year-old fighter with Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a Shiite militia that operates as a vigilante force around Baghdad. Another 18-year-old fighter agreed. “We receive orders and carry out attacks immediately,” he said, insisting that their militia commanders had been given authority by Iraqi security officials. That free hand has helped make Asaib Ahl al-Haq the largest and most formidable of the Iranian-backed Shiite militias that now dominate Baghdad. Once a leading killer of American troops, the militia is spearheading the fight against the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL. That means Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the United States military are now fighting on the same side, though each insists they will not work together. U.S. General Open to Ground Forces in Fight Against ISIS in Iraq SEPT. 16, 2014 Syrian Plane Shot Down as Attacks by Groups Intensify SEPT. 16, 2014 Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, chairman of a United Nations panel investigating human rights abuses in Syria. U.N. Investigators Cite Atrocities in SyriaSEPT. 16, 2014 But the power and autonomy of Asaib Ahl al-Haq and other Shiite militias also pose a central challenge to the creation of a more just and less sectarian Iraqi government. President Obama has said that the new American military offensive depends on such an inclusive Iraqi government, to undercut the appeal of the Sunni extremists and avoid American entanglement in a sectarian war. How ISIS Works With oil revenues, arms and organization, the jihadist group controls vast stretches of Syria and Iraq and aspires to statehood. Even while many Iraqi Shiites view the militias as their protectors, many in the Sunni minority say they fear the groups as agents of Iran, empowered by the Baghdad government to kill with impunity. After a decade of support from Iran and a new flood of recruits amid the Islamic State crisis, the Shiite militias are also now arguably more powerful than the Iraqi security forces, many here say, limiting the ability of any new government to rein them in.

“The militias have even bigger role now that they are said to be fighting ISIS” said Alla Maki, a Sunni lawmaker. “Who will control them? We have no real Iraqi Army. Under former Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, Asaib Ahl al-Haq was “encouraged to do dirty jobs like killing Sunnis, and they were allowed to operate freely,” Mr. Maki said. “Now the international community are all being inspired by the removal of Maliki personally, but the policy is still going on.”

The Asaib Ahl al-Haq fighters and the group’s official spokesman insisted that their vigilante attacks protect all Iraqis, Sunnis as well as Shiites. “We have been able to track the sleeper cells of ISIS and secure almost all of Baghdad — about 80 percent,” said Naeem al-Aboudi, a spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, in a gleaming, leather-paneled conference room at its heavily fortified headquarters in an elite neighborhood of the capital. In the current fight, he added, “the most dangerous areas in Iraq were assigned to Asaib Ahl al-Haq to lead the battle, because of the capability and professionalism of our fighters.” Asaib Ahl al-Haq was closely linked with Mr. Maliki, but Mr. Aboudi said it now sees itself as a “loyal opposition” to the new prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, charged with assembling that more inclusive government. For starters, Mr. Aboudi said, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the other large Shiite militias are negotiating with Mr. Abadi over the choices for defense and interior ministers. On Tuesday, the opposition of the Shiite militias helped block a parliamentary vote on those nominees. Asked about complaints of discrimination and police abuse against Sunnis under the previous government, Mr. Aboudi said the whole question was backward: “I think Shiites are the real marginalized and persecuted community in Iraq. We have more problems as Shiites than the Sunnis, even though the election showed we are the majority.” So far, though, there is no sign of any official attempts to investigate even the most publicized allegations of extrajudicial killings of Sunnis by Asaib Ahl al-Haq. At the end of July, a report from the research and advocacy group Human Rights Watch said it had documented the killings of 109 Sunni men — 48 in March and April, and 61 between June 1 and July 9 — in the villages and towns around Baghdad. Witnesses, medical personnel and government officials blamed Shiite militias for all of them, and “in many cases witnesses identified the militia as Asaib Ahl al-Haq,” the report said. In one case, Human Rights Watch wrote, a man kidnapped by fighters who identified themselves as members of Asaib Ahl al-Haq was later released because he convinced them that he was a Shiite, not a Sunni. Photo Members of the Iraqi Shiite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah patrolling at the outskirts of Hibhib in northern Iraq last month. The militia is one of several supported by the Iranian government. Credit European Pressphoto Agency Human Rights Watch quoted a doctor in the Health Ministry: “Sunnis are a minority in Baghdad, but they’re the majority in our morgue.” But victims and witnesses said the security forces “seemed too scared of the militias” to act or investigate, said Erin Evers, the group’s researcher in Baghdad. A spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry said it saw no pattern of sectarian killings, suggesting that ordinary crime was wrongly attributed to sectarianism when the victims were Sunnis. The spokesman, Saad Maan, denied that Asaib Ahl al-Haq or other militias were formally allowed to operate freely in Baghdad, although he acknowledged that to defend against the Islamic State the government had called on the Shiite militias to form a new volunteer force. “

There are bad people in each group,” including Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Mr. Maan said. But he vowed that the situation would improve as Iraq strengthened its own police forces, especially with the new international support for the new prime minister, Mr. Abadi. “I think this is a turning point for Iraq,” Mr. Maan said.

Asaib Ahl al-Haq, usually translated as League of the Righteous, is considered the most formidable of Iraq’s three large Iranian-backed militias. The second is Kata’ib Hezbollah, which shares the Iranian patronage and ideology of the Lebanese group of the same name, but has no other known links to it. The third is the Badr Corps, led by Hadi al-Ameri, a lawmaker in the governing coalition who served as minister of transportation in Mr. Maliki’s government. Asaib Ahl al-Haq was created about 10 years ago, in the years after the American invasion, when its leader, Sheikh Qais al-Khazali, broke away from the forces loyal to the prominent Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. United States officials blame Asaib Ahl al-Haq for a long series of deadly attacks on American forces during their occupation of Iraq. In 2007, Sheikh Khazali led an attack in Falluja that killed five United States Marines, American officials say. He was captured and held for three years by American forces, then released in 2010. He was ultimately transferred to the Iraqi government and then released at the same time as his group released a British computer expert it had held hostage. But Iraqi and American officials denied any prisoner exchange. The group’s attacks continued even as the occupation was ending: In June 2011, for instance, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and other Iranian-backed militias killed 13 American soldiers in rocket attacks on their bases, and that November an Asaib Ahl al-Haq roadside bomb killed the last American to die before the withdrawal. But by January 2012, virtually as soon as the Americans were gone, Mr. Maliki had invited the group back into Iraqi politics as a counterbalance to the influence of other powerful Shiite militias. Many of the group’s leaders were soon reported to be returning from exile in Iran. Asaib Ahl al-Haq came to be known as the armed support for Mr. Maliki’s Shiite political faction. The group’s spokesman declined to disclose its size, but Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s numbers swelled vastly earlier this year when a prominent cleric urged Shiites to take up arms against the invading Sunni fighters. The group has been the leading force in critical fights like the recent battle for the town of Amerli, raising eyebrows among some American military personnel about the prospect of partnering with such enemies to fight the Islamic State. Underscoring the tensions in the de facto alliance, the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia said Monday that it would leave the battlefield if American troops join in the ground fight — an action that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday was a remote but real possibility as more American advisers became involved in Iraq. Continue reading the main story 3 Comments “We will not fight alongside the American troops under any kind of conditions whatsoever,” the militia said in a statement on its website, adding that its only contact with the Americans would be “if we fight each other.” Mr. Aboudi of Asaib Ahl al-Haq said his militia could accept American airstrikes or military attacks against specific targets, “under the supervision of the Iraqis.” But he does not trust the Americans either, he said, arguing that Washington’s ultimate goal was to divide Iraq and thus increase Israel’s relative strength. “America has been intervening in most of the Arab countries of the region,” he said, “and it never brings stability.”

U.S. Plans to Evacuate Many Embassy Workers: Baghdadi’s ISIS eclipses Zawahiri’s al-Qaeda

Monday, June 16, 2014 Iran And Its Shiite Militias Mobilize In Iraq Interview With Phillip Smyth After the collapse of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in northern and central Iraq the press started reporting that militias were mobilizing in Baghdad and other areas, and that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force was sending in several hundred of its members to aid the Iraqi government. The fact is militias had been shifting their fighters from Syria and carrying out mass recruiting drives in Iraq since the beginning of the year far preceding the current security crisis. To help explain the situation is Phillip Smyth from the University of Maryland’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies’ Lab for Computational Cultural Dynamics. He also writes Hizballah Cavalcade for Jihadology. Funeral procession for Badr fighter killed in Samarra June 2014 showing the redeployment of Shiite militias from Syria to Iraq (via Phillip Smyth) 1. When did the Shiite militias first start moving back from Syria to Iraq? This was a process that actually started around the same time that Nouri al-Maliki started his offensive in Anbar around Christmas time [December 2013]. The first real evidence that they were back in Iraq started in January with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and Badr Organization deployments throughout the country. 2. In your article “Iranian Proxies Step Up Their Role in Iraq” for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy you wrote that the militias are forming popular committees and recruiting in Iraq. Can you talk about how they are recruiting people and any idea on how many people have joined? Numbers are really hard to come by. If you just look at mainstream articles you can see that there are people lining up out the door. The thing is with the Iranian backed proxy groups that are in Iraq, they started recruiting long before Nouri al-Maliki and even the Sadrists really started any real efforts. That started in earnest around March or April 2014. What they’ve done with the popular committees, and Badr has them, Asaib Ahl Al-Haq has them, others have them, is that they have separate recruitment centers in different cities from Baghdad to throughout the south. People just go in, state their name, they need to provide enough evidence that they are not an infiltrator, and that’s it. That’s how they’ve generally been organizing it. Images of members of ISCI in SWAT and militias and Ammar Hakim after they said they would support the Defense Ministry against the insurgents (Buratha News) ISCI head Hakim has been seen on TV and on social media in fatigues and firing an AK-47 showing his support for the military during the current security crisis 3. You’ve mentioned the well known militias but lately Ammar al-Hakim of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and Moqtada al-Sadr have issued statements about helping out the Defense Ministry and protecting the shrines, so are the larger more mainstream groups getting involved as well? Those two have problems with Maliki and with the Iranian backed groups. Sadr is no fan of Asaib Ahl al-Haq. He just did a couple trips to Iran. Some people read that to mean that Moqtada is aligned with the Iranians, but after Syria I really don’t think so. The Iranians and their proxy groups have been trying to portray Sadr as being with them, and everything that they are promoting. He’s has been very vocal in saying that these are “foreign entities.” I even saw a fatwa that came out about one of the militia groups where he said that these are foreigners. There is a definite split there. That doesn’t mean they’re not talking. It doesn’t mean they don’t see the same problem, and that’s ISIS. A common example is that the United States did ally with Joseph Stalin to crush Adolf Hitler. If you think about it along those lines there are major shrines and major areas [that are threatened by ISIS]. They [Sadr and Hakim] would have to save face by at least doing new recruitment. There’s been a progression on how this has been going. The Iranian backed groups started their recruitment first. Then Nouri al-Maliki announced one. The weird thing was there was a period right in between the Iranian backed groups’ announcement and Maliki’s announcements where Sadr came out and established new companies or brigades that were devoted to shrine defense. Now with the general recruitment [by the government going on] after Ayatollah Sistani’s announcement it means the momentum is there, and Hakim and Sadr can say they will do this, and they have to. This is not just a cynical power play. There is the existential threat of ISIS, and there’s no denying it. There’s the existential threat of the Naqshbandi coming back, the Baathists and other groups. They can’t really sit back and allow it. Ali Reza Moshajari of the IRGC might have died in Iraq in June 2014 showing their presence on the ground in the country (Hizballah Cavalcade) 4. There have been recent reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) sent in some forces to Iraq. Have you seen anything about Lebanese Hezbollah doing the same? Yes, but you have to know where to look. It’s not just something that’s floating out there. They know how to pitch it to comrades that are more accepting of Lebanese Hezbollah being on the ground there [in Iraq]. It’s only been pushed in a few different places. This is not something they really want out in the public. Of course Lebanese Hezbollah has Unit 3800, which was quite active during the early years of the Iraq War. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if after over a year of fighting alongside, and being advisers and commanders for numerous Iraqi Shiite units in Syria that Lebanese Hezbollah in addition to the IRGC are on the ground assisting with a lot of these different processes. It’s basic logic that they would. The only problem is that when you’re dealing with groups that operate covertly I can’t say that I’ve seen Lebanese Hezbollah on the ground in Najaf and I know that they’re there with Iraqis, because they haven’t put that up. But I don’t think there isn’t some kind of deployment going on. The numbers that were coming out like 130 IRGC in Iraq were interesting. I don’t know where this number came from, but again I think that the problem is people are not viewing this in context. They’re not viewing the current history and its decade long background. They say IRGC is just now in Iraq. IRGC has been in Iraq for decades. They had the Badr Brigade since the Iran-Iraq War. In the Badr Organization people have duel membership in IRGC. The same thing with people in Asaib Ahl al-Haq, it’s an IRGC controlled group. The big change is how this has become public. If you’re reading it in the Times of London or the Wall Street Journal where it’s been published it looks like this is a new big push, but people should have just expected this. The really interesting thing is Washington’s response to this, which is they don’t like Iran’s presence, but there’s nothing they can really do about it. I think a lot is being lost there. You’re seeing very clearly that Maliki’s rump state is coming under IRGC guidance. Don’t let me downplay the fact that the masses of Shia in Iraq are not Iranian agents. That’s something I always hear. But in a lot of powerful places IRGC is controlling certain things. Just remember the entire recruitment program in Iraq for Syria, who ran that? Who ran all the militia groups? It was IRGC, it was Lebanese Hezbollah, it was their proxies in Iraq. They were recruiting normal Shia because they had created a narrative to do that. Now in Iraq the situation is a little different. They don’t have to do narrative building, because they have ISIS attacking stuff and blowing things up all the time. It’s easier for Iran to make their position coalesce around the official Iraqi government line and around more popular pushes to go fight. We’re kind of at a point where even if Sadr said he had disagreements with the Iranians he’s not going to say to them that he doesn’t want their guns, no he doesn’t want their help. It’s the theater of the absurd on that one. The levels of control are advancing within what’s left of the Iraqi state. I don’t think anyone can really deny that. It’s clear. When you see Badr members of parliament like Qasim al-Araji putting up pictures of him with General Qasim Suleimani about a week ago. Then he has another picture of himself in combat fatigues holding an AK there’s no clearer message. Iran has a long-term game plan and I don’t think enough people respect it. It’s not that they’re just focused upon ISIS, but they have long-term goals. What are those long-term goals? For Iraq as with the region, it is to kick the United States out one way or another. Simultaneously they spread their ideology, military umbrella, and take control. This crisis is a great opportunity to further those larger goals and even with the acceptance of the U.S. while doing it because there is a shared foe. Badr MP Qasim al-Araji (right) photographed with IRGC Quds Force Commander Gen Suleimani (left) in Baghdad Jun 2014 (via Hayder al-Khoei) Immediately after that meeting MP Araji posted this photo of himself in fatigues with an AK-47 (via Phillip Smyth) 5. Can you finish with Diyala province? It seems like Diyala is really important. Militias have been deployed there. It’s right on the border with Iran. Transportation Minister Hadi Ameri of the Badr Organization just got put in charge of security there. What’s going on? Diyala has been a very interesting place. CNN actually reported that IRGC was fighting in Diyala. Now Diyala is right next to Iran, and beyond that it has been a nice recruiting center for Shia fighters heading for Syria. Not only is Badr controlling security there now, but Kataib Hezbollah has deployed there along with its popular defense brigades. I think when you see that level of Iranian proxy involvement there has to be some level of IRGC on the ground, particularly when it’s a border area. I think Diyala is another area to watch. In terms of narrative development Samara in Salahaddin is the place to watch, because the shrines are there. That was one of the initial things that was pushed, particularly on line, the legitimate defense of the shrines and then there’s the defense of the homeland. These are the two different themes that have been promoted. Militiamen handing out pictures of Ayatollah Khomeini in Baghdad June 2014 showing where their loyalties lie (via Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi) SOURCES Chulov, Martin, “Iraq faces the abyss after its military melts away,” Guardian, 6/13/14 Hadi, Ahmad, “cousin against cousin: iraqi militias in anbar bloody family ties,” Niqash, 6/5/14 Institute for the Study of War, “Overt Shi’a Militia Mobilization in Mixed Areas,” 4/17/14 Karimi, Faith and Smith-Spark, Laura, “Iran sends forces to Iraq as ISIS militants press forward, official says,” CNN, 6/13/14 Smyth, Phillip, “Iranian Proxies Step Up Their Role in Iraq,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 6/13/14 Sotaliraq, “Jurf al-Sakhr front forgotten war in Iraq and the suffering of new entrants of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq,” 5/30/14 Anonymous said... Really it is more than welcome your article since when the international media talk about extremist Islamist usually forget to mention the Iranian proxies in Iraq such as Asai’b Ahl al-Haq and Hezbollah brigades. They are responsible for the killings of Americans in Iraq and Lebanon and they are behind the killings before and again today of many Iraqis Sunni and Shia from Basrah to Anbar and Baghdad. Iraqi Shies killed because they worked with International charities (before and now), with Iraqi government –before), with Women and Human Rights or International companies. Above all they terribly hate Iraqi women with knowledge working independently. ISIS is asking the women to remain indoors and the same are asking Asai’b Ahl al-Haq and Hezbollah, the different is that the Iranian proxies have the blessing of Maliki and Obama administration has decided to forget who were the masterminds of the killing of scores of American before. How do you think will affect the Sunni point of view –within Diyala- of Maliki and ISF as sectarian about the decision taken for the Iraqi Supreme Court regarding the 3 elected Sunni representatives in Diyala? Ayad Allawy should have been in Baghdad since 2 days ago. Do you have any news about the coordination and steps taken among the secular and Sunni blocks with the US embassy , Maliki coalition, Sadder, Hakim and Barzani aiming to get new government in place? June 17, 2014 at 12:49 AM Joel Wing said... Last thing I heard Allawi was in London attacking Maliki. The Supreme Court just ratified the election results so now there is a timeline the parties have to follow to create a new government. Given the security crisis however the parties may ignore those deadlines and put off putting together a new ruling coalition. June 17, 2014 at 8:49 AM =========================== انزالات متتالیه لقوات النخبه العراقیه(قوات علي الاکبر) خلف خطوط الغزاه جحافل الفتح الشعبي تدخل تكريت بدون قتال والدواعش في مزابل التاريخ " ‫#‏داعش‬" يرسم خريطة لدولته الإسلامية تشمل ‫#‏الكويت‬ نشر تنظيم دولة العراق والشام الإسلامية "داعش"، خريطة لتصور الدولة الإسلامية التي يسعى لإقامتها، وبدا لافتا أن التنظيم وضع الكويت ضمن دولته المرتقبة. وفي هذا الإطار، أجرى رئيس الوزراء الكويتي اتصالا هاتفيا برئيس الوزراء العراقي، نوري ‫#‏المالكي‬، استعرض معه تطورات الأوضاع الأمنية. التفاصيل في الرابط التالي http://ara.tv/n75mn American embassy in #Baghdad to evacuate "many" of its personnel as #ISIS advances, http://t.co/bN7f6IuOwu, http://t.co/cjKOcx7Scc World Volunteers who have joined the Iraqi Army paraded in Baghdad on Sunday. Thaier Al-Sudani / Reuters By TIM ARANGO and MICHAEL R. GORDON June 15, 2014 ERBIL, Iraq — The American Embassy in Baghdad plans to evacuate a substantial number of its personnel this week in the face of a militant advance that rapidly swept from the north toward the capital, the State Department announced on Sunday. The embassy, a beige fortress on the banks of the Tigris River within the heavily secured Green Zone, where Iraqi government buildings are also situated, has the largest staff of any United States Embassy. The exact number of people being evacuated from Baghdad — the American government prefers to say they are being “relocated” — was not disclosed. But the embassy will remain open, and most of its staff will remain, according to the State Department. The United States has a staff of about 5,500 at the embassy and at two consulates in the north and south of Iraq. “Some additional U.S. government security personnel will be added to the staff in Baghdad; other staff will be temporarily relocated — both to our consulate generals in Basra and Erbil and to the Iraq Support Unit in Amman,” Jordan, Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement. “Over all, a substantial majority of the U.S. Embassy presence in Iraq will remain in place, and the embassy will be fully equipped to carry out its national security mission,” Ms. Psaki added. An American military official said that fewer than 100 Marines and other military personnel had arrived in Baghdad to reinforce the embassy’s security. The embassy staff members who are being evacuated are leaving on charter aircraft or commercial flights. But the military has planes available if necessary, the Pentagon said. Other Americans in Iraq, particularly contractors working for companies that had been training the Iraqi military on weapons systems purchased from the United States, have already left. Last week, in quick fashion, militants seized control of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, and then moved south. But over the weekend, their advance seemed to slow. In response to the crisis, President Obama has said he is weighing a range of actions to help the Iraqi government turn back the insurgents, including airstrikes and other military aid. This year, when insurgents captured Falluja and other parts of western Anbar Province, the American government rushed guns, ammunition and Hellfire missiles to aid the Iraqis, but it has done little to stop the militants. As American forces left Iraq at the end of 2011, the State Department planned to significantly increase its diplomatic presence in the country by establishing several fortified embassy branch offices defended by private security guards. The Obama administration soon reconsidered those ambitions, chiefly because of the cost and feasibility. The consulates in Basra and Erbil remained open; another, in Kirkuk, was phased out; and a proposed outpost in Mosul was never opened. After the troops left, only a small number of military personnel remained as part of an office of security cooperation at the embassy. They oversee a weapons sales program and provide limited mentoring for Iraqi forces. Tim Arango reported from Erbil, and Michael R. Gordon from Washington. ================= About 275 US military personnel to Iraq, says Obama 17 Jun 2014 AFP / Ahmad al-Rubaye US soldiers stand at attention in Baghdad on June 1, 2010 About 275 US military personnel are being deployed to Iraq to help American personnel and protect the embassy in Baghdad, President Barack Obama said Monday in a letter to Congressional leaders. The force, which began deploying on Sunday, has been sent "for the purpose of protecting US citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat," Obama wrote. "This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed." The move comes as jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) battle Iraqi security forces for control of a strategic northern town and Washington weighs possible drone strikes against the militants. The ISIL fighters have taken control of a swath of territory north of Baghdad in a drive towards the Iraqi capital launched a week ago. The White House said in a statement that the US military personnel would help the State Department relocate some embassy staff from Baghdad to the consulates in Arbil and Basra, as well as Amman. It added that the embassy remained open, and that most personnel were to remain in place in Baghdad. The troops were entering Iraq with the consent of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, the statement said. =================================== الظاهري: ارتد دعم العرب والمسلمين للجهاد الأفغاني خنجراً في خاصرة الأمة الإسلامية، حين استهدف تنظيم القاعدة السعودية  أمير عشائر الدليم الشيخ ماجد علي السليمان يعلن براءته من كل شخص يضع يده بيد عصابات "داعش" الإرهابية. بالفيديو.. أمير "داعشي" يرهب مسناً سورياً بالسلاح المزيد على الرابط التالي: How ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became the world’s most powerful jihadist leader By Terrence McCoy June 11  Undated file picture released on Wednesday Jan. 29, 2014, by the official website of Iraq's Interior Ministry claiming to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Al-Qaida's central leadership broke with one of its most powerful branch commanders, who in defiance of its orders spread his operations from Iraq to join the fighting in Syria and fueled bitter infighting among Islamic militant factions in Syria’s civil war. (AP Photo/Iraqi Interior Ministry, File) Undated file picture released Jan. 29, 2014, by the official Web site of Iraq’s Interior Ministry claiming to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. (Iraqi Interior Ministry via AP) For all his power and newfound notoriety, there are only two authenticated photos of a man now called the world’s “most powerful jihadi leader.” One shows a serious man with an olive complexion and round countenance. The other, released by the Iraqi government in January, depicts an unsmiling bearded figure in a black suit. The image is cracked and blurry, as though someone had taken a picture of a picture. The murkiness of the photo of the man who calls himself Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is appropriate. Though he’s “the world’s most dangerous man” to Time magazine and the “the new bin Laden” to Le Monde, the man who orchestrated the sacking of northern Iraq’s largest city and today controls a nation-size swath of land, is a relatively unknown and enigmatic figure. Much of what is known of Baghdadi’s history is unconfirmed, while other information is disputed to such a degree that it’s nearly impossible to discern where fact meets Baghdadi’s rising myth. Several facts, however, are clear: Baghdadi leads the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. He is a shrewd strategist, a prolific fundraiser and a ruthless killer. The United States has a $10 million bounty on his head. He has thrown off the yoke of al-Qaeda command and just took his biggest prize yet in Mosul, an oil hub that sits at the vital intersection of Iraq, Turkey and Syria. And in just one year of grisly killing, he has in all likelihood surpassed even al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in international clout and prestige among Islamist militants. “The true heir to Osama bin Laden may be ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” wrote The Washington Post’s David Ignatius. He is “more violent, more virulent, more anti-American,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told the columnist, while the cautious and uncharismatic Zawahiri “is not coping well.” In fact, Baghdadi is now recruiting fighters from other Zawahiri affiliates, including al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch and the Somalia-based al-Shabab. “For the last 10 years or more, [Zawahiri] has been holed up in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and hasn’t really done very much more than issue a few statements and videos,” Richard Barrett, a former counterterrorism chief with the British foreign intelligence service, told Agence France-Presse last week. “Whereas Baghdadi has done an amazing amount — he has captured cities, he has mobilized huge amounts of people, he is killing ruthlessly throughout Iraq and Syria…. If you were a guy who wanted action, you would go with Baghdadi.” The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an al-Qaeda splinter group that has seized a huge chunk of northern Iraq, is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a relatively unknown and enigmatic figure. Born a Sunni in 1971 in Samarra with the name Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, he claims to be a direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad. According to a widely cited biography released by jihadists, “he is a man from a religious family. His brothers and uncles include preachers and professors of Arabic language, rhetoric and logic.” The biography and Arabic-language accounts claim he obtained a doctorate at Islamic University in Baghdad — which is presumably why several of his many aliases include the title “Dr.” Holding degrees in Islamic studies and history, he is believed to have been an Islamic preacher around the time of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. The chaos of those months drove the 30-something into militancy, and he formed an armed group in eastern Iraq, one that reportedly never rose out of obscurity. The opacity of his background, analysts say, suggests a broader truth of rising militant Islamists. “The mystery surrounding Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — at the level of his personality, his movements, or even his relatives, his family, and those close to him — came as a result of what happened to previous leaders, who were killed after their movements were detected,” wrote Mushreq Abbas in al-Monitor. He is the “invisible jihadist,” according to Le Monde. This undated file image posted on a militant Web site on Jan. 14, 2014, shows fighters from the al-Qaida linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria marching in Raqqa, Syria. (AP) But the narrative solidifies in 2005, when he was captured by American forces and spent the next four years a prisoner in the Bucca Camp in southern Iraq. It was from his time there that the first known picture of Baghdadi emerged. And it’s also there, reports Al-Monitor, that he possibly met and trained with key al-Qaeda fighters. He gained enough respect that by 2010, after several leaders of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq were killed, he assumed control of it. At that time, the power of the Islamist militancy in Iraq was at its lowest ebb, and the number of killings had plunged. The Sunni rebellion, which it had once spearheaded, was on the verge of collapse. But then Syria happened. The civil war there, which left a vacuum of authority in large tracts of the country, fueled a resurgence of the group. The upheaval gave rise to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Over the following years, as many as 12,000 militant Islamists — 3,000 of whom were from Western countries — flocked to the region to fight, according to the Soufan Group, an intelligence consultancy. But even then, Baghdadi, today respected among militants as a battlefield tactician, maintained his anonymity. It is said that no one knows where he is. And reports say that in the rare instances he meets a prisoner, he wears a mask. The rise of ISIS under his stewardship has been less about a cult of personality than what one expert told AFP signaled a “transnational ideology.” This became especially clear after Baghdadi cast off al-Qaeda’s leadership in June 2013. “I chose the command of God over the command that runs against it in the letter,” Baghdadi told al-Qaeda leader Zawahiri, who had tried to bring the rogue commander back into line. Since, the power of Baghdadi, who some say may soon establish himself as emir of a new Islamic state, has only grown. As has that of ISIS. “ISIS’s rise at the expense of Zawahiri’s movement signals that a new, more dangerous hybrid based on state development by wrecking everything in its path is emerging from the Syrian terrorist incubator,” wrote Theodore Karasik of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. “Ultimately, ISIS seeks to create an Islamic state from where they would launch a global holy war. Perhaps that war is now beginning as Baghdadi’s ISIS eclipses Zawahiri’s al-Qaeda.” This file image posted on a militant Web site on Jan. 7, 2014, shows a convoy of vehicles and fighters from the al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. (AP) ==================================== هكذا ساند الموساد السعودية في "غزوة داعش" 19/06/2014 09:25 | عدد القراءات : 11910 حجم الخط: Decrease font Enlarge font هكذا ساند الموساد السعودية في "غزوة داعش" في وقت خطفت "غزوة" تنظيم الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام "داعش" الفجائية لأجزاء واسعة من العراق، أنظار العالم بأسره، أكد خبراء استراتيجيون أن ضوءاً أخضر سعودياً أُعطي للتنظيم "القاعدي" للقيام بزحفه في المناطق العراقية، عقب شحنات تسليحية هائلة تمّ تأمينها لمقاتليه قبيل الانتخابات السورية. لتصبّ هذه الغزوة - حسب الخبراء - في خانة الرد السعودي على فوز المالكي - الأسد في الانتخابات، والإنجازات الميدانية اللافتة والمتسارعة التي حققها الجيش السوري في الجبهات الاستراتيجية، التي أحرقت بالتالي كل الأوراق السعودية في المنطقة، وسط تواتر معلومات استخبارية إقليمية أشارت إلى دور كبير لجهاز "الموساد الإسرائيلي" في مساندة ضباط بالمخابرات السعودية والفرنسية دعموا لوجستياً واستخبارياً "زحف" مقاتلي "داعش" العابر لمناطق هامة في العراق، وتعاون بارز من المسؤوليْن العراقييْن الفاريْن عزت الدوري وطارق الهاشمي، وضباط عراقيين كبار تم تجنيدهم لإتمام أهداف "الغزوة"، إلا أن حدثاً أمنياً سورياً خرق المشهد العراقي مباشرة، وتمثل باستعادة الجيش السوري لمدينة كسب بالكامل، عبر عملية عسكرية لافتة ومباغتة نسفت أحلام المقاتلين المتشددين بفتح منفذ بحري على المتوسط، بموازاة معلومات أمنية أخرى أشارت إلى "سلة" مفاجآت ميدانية قادمة في الميدان السوري، كما العراقي، ستكون بمنزلة رسالة "غير متوقَّعة" متعددة الرؤوس، أحدها باتجاه الرياض وتل أبيب، عقب إنجاز تنسيق أمني سوري - عراقي عالي المستوى، بالتشاور الحثيث مع طهران. ووفق معلومات أكدها أكثر من مصدر غربي، فإن السعودية باشرت قبيل الانتخابات الرئاسية في سورية بضخّ كميات هائلة من الأسلحة لمقاتلي "داعش" في الشمال السوري، وأمّنت عبر ضباط استخباريين سعوديين وفرنسيين نقل المئات من هؤلاء إلى داخل الحدود العراقية، وحسب هذه المعلومات فإن الضوء الأخضر السعودي لقياديي "التنظيم" بالبدء بالزحف نحو المناطق العراقية التي احتلها، أُعطي لهم عقب فوز الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد ورئيس الحكومة العراقية نوري المالكي، في وقت كشف خبير عسكري "إسرائيلي" في حديث للقناة العاشرة العبرية، أن السعودية و"إسرائيل" نسّقتا "على درجة عالية" زحف مقاتلي "داعش" في العراق، وأكدت معلوماته لاحقاً صحيفة "إندبندنت" البريطانية، التي أشارت أيضاً - وفقاً لتقارير استخبارية بريطانية - إلى دور بارز للبعثي الفار عزت الدوري في "غزوة التنظيم" المتشدد، وطارق الهاشمي المتواري في قطر، كاشفة أن الدوري يقيم في بلدة "حفر الباطن" على الحدود العراقية - السعودية، بإيعاز سعودي، كما لفتت الصحيفة - نقلاً عن الكاتب روبرت فيسك - إلى أن السعودية التي أقلقها بشدة انقلاب الموازين الميدانية بشكل كبير لصالح الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد، والتقارب الجاري بين واشنطن وطهران، وما تخلله من انفتاح متبادل بين الأخيرة وسلطنة عمان والإمارات والكويت، ومؤخراً تركيا، ترجمت امتعاضها ببعث رسالة دموية متعددة الرؤوس "لمن يعنيهم الأمر" عبر "فزاعة داعش" من داخل العراق، وإيصال مقاتليه حتى الحدود الإيرانية. وربطاً بالأمر، توقّف مراقبون دوليون أمام عملية اختطاف ثلاثة مستوطنين "إسرائيليين" في هذا التوقيت اللافت بمواكبة "زحف" مقاتلي "داعش" في العراق، وما شابها من ضبابية في تبني العملية، ففي وقت سارع الأخير الى الإعلان عن مسؤوليته في اختطاف المستوطنين، اتهمت "إسرائيل" حركة "حماس" بالوقوف وراءها، في حين أعلنت كتائب "شهداء الأقصى" التابعة لفتح مسؤوليتها عن العملية، إلا أن المراقبين شكّكوا بما سموها "المسرحية الاستخبارية" التي حاكها الموساد "الإسرائيلي" بالتعاون مع الاستخبارات السعودية، ورأوا فيها رغبة "إسرائيلية" بتمرير ضربة تبدأ بقطاع غزة وتصل إلى جنوب لبنان، في ظل انشغال العالم بتداعيات "الاستعراض الداعشي" في العراق، وسط معلومات استخبارية أكدت أن المستوطنين الثلاثة أصبحوا داخل الأراضي الأردنية! نعم، لا صوت يعلو الآن على صوت قرقعة سيوف مقاتلي "داعش" العابرة للحدود العراقية، في ظل تأكيدات لمحللين استراتيجيين مفادها أن رداً مضاداً بدأ الإعداد له للانقضاض على "الزحف الداعشي"، عبر غرفة عمليات تم استحداثها تضمّ قياديين أمنيين وخبراء عسكريين من سورية والعراق وإيران وروسيا، تُرجمت أولى إشاراته باستعادة القوات العراقية لزمام الأمور سريعاً على الأرض، مترافقة مع عمليات تصفية طالت ما يسمى "والي نينوى" الشيشاني محمد ميلادوف، بعملية خاصة ونوعية، أعقبت تصفية الرجل الثاني في "داعش"؛ أبو عبد الرحمن البيلاوي، في عملية مماثلة في الموصل، وما سيليها من عمليات نوعية أخرى لن تكون مغايرة لمفاجآت الكمائن التي هزت شباك التكفيريين في سورية - وفق ما أكدت مصادر غربية متابعة - ولعل كمين "العتيبة" في الغوطة الشرقية الذي سحق أكثر من 180 مسلحاً غالبيتهم من "جبهة النصرة"، ما زال كابوساً ماثلاً في أذهان رجال الاستخبارات السعودية "والإسرائيلية" حتى الآن. ماجدة الحاج / صحيفة الثبات ===== تحية معطرة بدماء العراقيين من ابناء العراق كافة بكافة طوائفه وقومياته واديانة الى نـــــواب الشـــــــــعب الكرام الذين انتخبهم الشعب اين هم نواب الشعب اليوم اين كانوا ليقولوا كلمتهم امام الارهاب اين هم نواب الشعب الذين خانوا الشعب اين الغيرة العراقية عندما تسقط محافظة من محافظات العراق بيد الارهاب اين من يدعي حب العراق على الشعب ان يقول كلمته لكل نائب لم يحضر الجلسة اليوم هل انتم مع الارهاب ام الارهاب معكم ام انتم والارهاب وجهان لعملة واحدة تبت يد الخيانة التي تخون الشعب ولاتقول كلمة الحق قال الله تعالى ( وَإِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لِيُثْبِتُوكَ أَوْ يَقْتُلُوكَ أَوْ يُخْرِجُوكَ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ ) سورة الانفال كلمة الى نواب الشعب انظروا الى التاريخ جيدا فالتاريخ يسجل اعمالكم انظروا جيدا في سطور التاريخ بتمعن الشعب العراقي كلما تظافرت المحن حوله كلما ازداد عزما وقوة واباء انه شعب اعده الله لينصر الحق به على الباطل انه شعب الانبياء والائمة الاطهار سحقا لكم ايها الخونه والمتامرون وكل من باعوا انفسهم الشعب سوف يقول كلمته قريبا ويحقق النصر انشاء الله