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Rayzur
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+Comment WikiLeaks has revealed a new draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the controversial free trade treaty currently being negotiated by 12 nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The new leak comprises a version of the treaty's second chapter said to be the result of round of negotiations conducted in Vietnam during May 2014.
WikiLeaks claims the revisions in the new draft include “a resuscitation of the defeated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)”, a treaty that among other things would have criminalised attempts to circumvent digital rights management.
DRM includes several technologies including software locks that allow rights-owners to set and enforce terms by which people use their intellectual property.
ACTA went down in flames back in 2012.
The next round of TPP talks takes place in Australia later in October. ®
+CommentThe treaty's critics argue that it is the “Son of SOPA” as it suggests internet service providers be made responsible for their subscribers' abuse of copyright. Previous drafts of the treaty have proposed extending copyright and other intellectual property protections, potentially extending the length of time that Big Content and Big Pharma can enjoy exclusive rights to innovation.
Canadian law professor Michael Geist's post on the new draft suggests that it shows the US is finding it hard to rally support for some of the copyright proposals. He suggests “the US remains fairly isolated in its efforts to overhaul patent and copyright law around the world”.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) analysis of the draft makes the claim that it contains new trade secret protections “that would criminalize the unauthorized, willful access of a trade secret held in a computer system, or the misappropriation or disclosure of a trade secret using a computer system.”
The EFF expressed concern that the new wording doesn't offer any exemptions, meaning journalists could be charged for revealing the details of trade secrets – which would make life interesting when your future self sends a tasty morsel to news@theregister.co.uk.
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Heads up people.... tell your elected, no more business with Turkey... The brash boldness with their actions is appalling ....
Press TV strongly implies that Turkey killed their Serena Shim after threatening her. She was covering Kobane
Yeah Senator Cruz....
Thanks Umbert! .
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And Iraq Prime Minster Haider al-Abadi gave Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu a jingle on the telly and said knock it off....
The new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said that he called Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to tell him that "Turkey must not conduct military operations against the PKK in Iraq!"
The Iraqi Prime Minister made the announcement during his speech in parliament on the security situation in Iraq. Abadi said regarding the PKK:
"The PKK is currently fighting alongside us against the terrorist organisations. We have told Turkey that they must cease their military activity within Iraqi borders against the PKK. I told this to the Turkish Prime Minister in a phone call a few days ago."
After Abadi's speech, Musanna Emin, an MP from the Islamic Unity Party, Iraq must officially delist the PKK from its terrorist organisations list.
Musanna Emin said, "The PKK is not a terrorist organisation. We are hoping for you to take this step. The PKK represents the voice of a people."
Meanwhile as the rest of the world calls the town Kobane, the US sensitively refers to the town as a "target-rich environment for the US". Fox News reports:
Published October 18, 2014Now PlayingWhy coalition against ISIS does not have long-term strategy
Military and White House officials said Friday that the fierce fighting in the Syrian border town of Kobani has created an opportunity to take out large numbers of Islamic State fighters pouring into the battle.
Though the fighting has raised concerns that the vital town could still fall to the Islamic State, Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, head of U.S. Central Command, claimed Friday that there's an upside for the U.S. and its allies.
"The enemy has made a decision to make Kobani his main effort," Austin said, claiming "manpower" is streaming into the area.
"Now, my goal is to defeat and ultimately destroy ISIL. And if [the enemy] continues to present us with major targets ... then clearly, we'll service those targets, and we've done so very, very effectively here of late," Austin said.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest echoed the point, saying the Islamic State is amassing fighters and resources in Kobani.
"That has created a rather target-rich environment around Kobani for American and coalition air strikes that when they see clusters of fighters or they see depots of material or supplies that are critical to the success of those fighters, it's easier to take them out," Earnest said.
While touting the opportunity to take out a large number of targets in Kobani, military officials nevertheless cautioned against expecting quick progress in the overall campaign against ISIS, or ISIL.
"The campaign to destroy ISIL will take time, and there will be occasional setbacks along the way," Austin told a Pentagon news conference, "particularly in these early stages of the campaign as we coach and mentor a force [in Iraq] that is actively working to regenerate capability after years of neglect and poor leadership."
And he acknowledged "it's highly possible that Kobani may fall."
While hammering the jihadists daily from the air, the U.S. military is talking of a years-long effort -- one that will require more than aerial bombardment, will show results only gradually and may eventually call for a more aggressive use of U.S. military advisers in Iraq.
Austin said he believes the Iraqi government will successfully enlist the support of Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar province to turn the tide in that important region, where the militants have made recent gains.
And he said he sees no imminent threat to the international airport west of Baghdad, where U.S. Apache helicopters are monitoring Islamic State efforts to make inroads on the capital.
As an example of fresh progress, Austin said Iraqi soldiers on Friday attacked north from Baghdad to Beiji, home to Iraq's largest oil refinery.
Yet the militants are making gains in some parts, like the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, even as they stall or retrench in other areas. Baghdad is not believed to be in imminent danger of falling but it is "certainly in their sights," Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said.
The Pentagon is preparing to set up a more formally organized command structure, known in military parlance as a joint task force, to lead and coordinate the campaign from a forward headquarters, perhaps in Kuwait. On Wednesday it formally named the campaign "Operation Inherent Resolve."
As of Thursday the U.S. had launched nearly 300 airstrikes in Iraq and nearly 200 in Syria, and allies had tallied fewer than 100, according to Central Command. Those figures don't capture the full scope of the effort because many airstrikes launch multiple bombs on multiple targets. Central Command said that as of Wednesday, U.S. and partner-nation air forces had dropped nearly 1,400 munitions.
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And here's a word from the guy with the stones of an elephant.....
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan answered questions on his return from his trip to Afghanistan.
To a question on Turkey's role in the coalition against ISIS and the discussions on the Incirlik military base, Erdogan said:
"We do not know what is being asked of us, in regards to Incirlik. We will evaluate the situation when we are clear on this. We will sit with our security officials and discuss what is on the table, if it is suitable to us we will say 'yes', if not then it is not possible for us to approve."
To a separate question on the U.S. confirmation of dialogue with the PYD, Erdogan stated:
"Right now, the PYD is the same as the PKK for us, it too is a terrorist organisation. It is unacceptable for us that a NATO ally of ours like America would openly support a terrorist organisation and expect us to approve of this. It must not expect us to say 'yes' to such a thing. We cannot say yes to this."
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Picture of Turkish Army Giving ISIS Weapons and Supplies Before they Head to Kobane (and if this makes your blood boil, you can email your elected folks and tell them to NOT pay Turkey to train coalition fighters as is currently very clearly in the plan.... then send them articles that the US news forgot to cover)... and BTW these articles are all over and I am only posting one of many ...
Originally posted on The Rojava Report:
Local residents are claiming that ISIS fighters and Turkish soldiers attached to the Karaca military base met last night in the border region near Kobanê, according to an article from DİHA carried by Özgür Gündem. Residents of the village of Boydê who witnessed the event said that the ISIS fighters arrived in vehicles and were provided with certain supplies by the Turkish soldiers before crossing back into Syria.
Locals described how the ISIS fighters arrived in a white minibus with darkened windows and seemed entirely familiar around the Turkish soldiers. They contrasted the treatment received by ISIS fighters with the treatment received by refugees fleeing Kobanê. Fuat Tilgen, a resident of the village who witnessed the events, said he went outside yesterday evening after hearing a number of pistol shots. He explained how two residents of Kobanê who were attempting to cross the border with their animals were captured by…
View original 720 woorden meer
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Israeli prof.: US lagging behind on Ebola precautions, U.S. needs infrared screening at airports. (TOI).HT : IsraelMatzav.
An American-Israeli expert in infectious diseases has attacked the United States' failure to screen airline passengers by taking their temperatures using infrared cameras as a means of preventing passengers with Ebola from boarding planes.
According to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Professor Leslie Lobel, “the world has been asleep for 50 years regarding infectious diseases and Ebola is the wake-up call.”
Lobel is a world-recognized virologist who has studied the virus and others emanating from the African continent.
“Fifty years ago, we were dealing with eradicating polio, smallpox and yellow fever which had similarly high mortality rates. Today, most of the world seems to understand the need to screen passengers in airports using infrared cameras for elevated temperature as a simple precaution — the US is lagging behind,” said Dr. Lobel.
The American-Israeli professor has been researching a cure for hemorrhagic fever viruses, including Ebola, for a decade, the university said in a press release. ...
Earlier Friday, the World Health Organization admitted that it botched attempts to stop the now-spiraling Ebola outbreak in West Africa, blaming factors including incompetent staff and a lack of information.
“Nearly everyone involved in the outbreak response failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall,” WHO said in a draft internal document obtained by The Associated Press, noting that experts should have realized that traditional containment methods wouldn’t work in a region with porous borders and broken health systems.This just keeps getting better and better....
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Statement from the YPG Commander 19 Oct 2014
Statement of the YPG General Command
To the Media and the General Public,
It has been 33 days that the city of Kobane has been fighting terrorism in eventful days of resistance, redemption, and enormous sacrifices in combating the terrorist attacks of ISIS and its evils. For this organization which has become the biggest threat to the global peace and stability, the battle of Kobane poses a historic turning point. We are certain that the result of this battle will shape the future of Syria and the democratic struggle for freedom and peace. We want it to be known that the victory in Kobane is a victory for all Syria, and it will also be a major defeat for ISIS and terrorism.
The resistance shown by us, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the factions of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is a guarantee for defeating ISIS’s terrorism in the region. Counter-terrorism and building a free and democratic Syria was the basis of the agreement we signed with factions of the FSA. As we can see, the success of the revolution is subject to the development of this relationship between all factions and the forces of good in this country.
YPG and FSA Commanders in AfrinWe as the YPG affirm that we will meet all of our responsibilities towards Rojava and Syria in general. We will work to consolidate the concept of true partnership for the administration of this country commensurate with the aspirations of the Syrian people with all its ethnic, religious and social classes.
We also confirm that there is coordination between us and the important factions of the FSA in the northern countryside of Aleppo, Afrin, Kobane, and Jazia. Currently, there are factions and several battalions of the FSA fighting on our side against the ISIS terrorists.
General Command of the YPG
October 19, 2014
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War for Kobane: 13,000 terrified Kurds trapped between Isil and Turkish border Up to 13,000 terrified Kurdish refugees trapped in dangerous no-man’s land along Syria’s border with Turkey, with Islamic State jihadis closing in
The thousands of refugees stuck at three separate border points appear in less obvious danger from Isil atrocities than the 700 civilians still stuck inside Kobane itself, according to United Nations estimates Photo: Robert TaitThey are the forgotten people of the war for Kobane.
As the battle for control of the strategically vital border town creeps closer to a bloody denouement, between 10,000 and 13,000 terrified refugees cower on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey – trapped in a dangerous no-man’s-land between the murderous violence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [isil] and official Turkish suspicion towards Kurds.
Many sleep inside family cars parked next to the chicken wire border fence. Some have brought livestock with them in the hope that they can soon return to the farmlands they hastily vacated, an increasingly forlorn aspiration.
Now many have started to suffer grievously in their state of limbo after Turkey finally sealed the border to stop the flood of refugees.
Up to 50 may have died in recent days, from various causes, including starvation and stepping on landmines, say Syrian Kurdish groups.
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We could face genocide in Kobane as Isil attack, warns UN
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Why won't Turkey help save Kobane from Isil?
10 Oct 2014 -
Islamic State just days away from overtaking Kobane
09 Oct 2014
Some – including Kurdish fighters brought to the border from Kobane – are said to have bled to death from minor wounds after being denied access into Turkey.
The thousands of refugees stuck at three separate border points appear in less obvious danger from Isil atrocities than the 700 civilians still stuck inside Kobane itself, according to United Nations estimates.
Yet it is the former who have become the latest trigger for Kurdish anger over Turkey’s stance in the war between Isil jihadists and the Kurdish militias fighting to save Kobane.
While the stranded border refugees have run short of water and food, Turkish security forces have intervened aggressively to stop aid groups and relatives approaching the fence to render assistance.
Wasiq Mami, 45, from Kobane and carrying a bag full of bread for hungry relatives, described how he and friends were attacked by police firing tear gas after they went to a section of the fence away from the main crossing point to hand out fresh supplies.
“Because of the Turkish government’s policy, we are having to use sneaky smugglers routes to pass on food,” said Mr Mami, standing at the deserted Yumurtalik crossing inside Turkey, which just days ago was a bustling site of fleeing refugees. “We went to an area that was covered with trees to pass on food but after the police found out, they fired tear gas at us and beat us.”
A group of Kurds from Turkey belonging to the newly-formed Kurdish Liberty Movement were prevented on Friday from dispensing food and water when soldiers blocked their path.
“A lot of people, mainly old people and children, have died of hunger,” said Osman Cinar, the group’s leader, standing with a group of men with bags of food. “Three people were shot when they tried to come through the border five days ago.”
Three children, one as young as eight, are also reported to have died on the Syrian side after stepping on landmines.
In Turkey, Kurds say, the army has established a cordon 0.6 miles from the border which no one is permitted to pass – ostensibly to block Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK] fighters, outlawed by the Turkish government as “terrorists”, from going to Syria to aid their Kurdish brethren against Isil.
The Daily Telegraph witnessed the policy’s enforcement on Friday as an armoured vehicle pursued four people who tried to walk toward the border but were forced to turn and run.
The human costs are mounting – along with resentment at the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president.
“About 50 people have died at the border, some of them from injuries, at least five or six from starvation, I’m certain of that,” said Ebrahim Muslim, head of the Syrian Civilian Coalition, a UN-backed group. “The people of Kobane, including those at the border, are surrounded – by Isil to the east, west and south, and by Turkish forces to the north across the border.
“The Turkish government said after this week’s [Muslim] Eid festival that everyone left in Kobane was a supporter of the YPG [the Syrian Kurdish militia] and a terrorist. That’s why they are doing this. They want to eliminate the Kurds as a force.”
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Hey Jim at first I thought it might be a wrong hands issue, but they have YPG in the command center calling in air strikes... And I know the USAF is very good at drops...... in this world of double speak, its odd that we call bombing "humanitarian aid", and not dropping in supplies... Its also been interesting reading the flow of mission change regarding Kobane... its humanitarian, then its target opportunity (ISIS) and today in a different article, the same General says its part of the strategy to save Iraq... which remains the US coalition priority....
NATO partner Turkey is still being filmed preventing water food and medical supplies into Kobane. The Kobane docs said people will die without the medical supplies... They are running out of milk for babies... and there are still definitely a boat load of civilians in Kobane... Turkey is likewise being filmed allowing ISIS in and out with reinforcements, weapons and treating their injured. There are lots of pictures documenting various documents taken off ISIS bodies showing they all flew into Istanbul and crossed over to fight against Kobane...
In any event, I almost get the impression that we are verbally dancing around the NATO partner Turkey issue... in some of the statements being made... and somehow trying to appease them as NATO partner, while at same time trying to pressure them into becoming more involved... Turkey of course replied today that the US air strikes were a publicity campaign...
No one can afford the lid blowing off Turkey right now in the middle of everything else..which seems to be a huge give and take dance with them.... Its no surprise that Turkey lost its bid for the UN Security Council seat a few days ago.... however, they were nonetheless shocked that it happened.... Clearly that country is out of touch with its own reality....
Meantime, the US finally seems to have boarded the correct ship in its view of Kobane...Had they simply read DV days ago, they would have been spared a lot of trouble in figuring out the pivotal nature of the this battle.... Its a little bit concerning that it took them this long.. and way after many others not in command were totally on board... Whatever the case....thank G-d they finally did.. and welcome aboard US and please refer to maps printed herein any time you have questions....
Kobani key to U.S. strategy against Islamic StateIf the city falls, the extremists will have a border waystation for militants to slip in and out of Turkey.
By LARA JAKES The Associated PressWASHINGTON – Dusty and remote, the Syrian city of Kobani has become an unlikely spoil in the war against Islamic State militants – and far more of a strategic prize than the United States wants to admit.
Perched on Turkey’s border, the city of about 60,000 has been besieged for weeks by IS fighters. Kobani is now a ghost town: the U.N. estimates that fewer than 700 of its residents remain as its people flee to safety in Turkey.
Additional Images
A Turkish Kurd watches intensified fighting over the border in Kobani, Syria . The Associated PressThe Obama administration has declared Kobani a humanitarian disaster, but not a factor in the overall strategy to defeat the Islamic State group.
“Kobani does not define the strategy of the coalition with respect to Daesh,” Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Cairo earlier this week, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. “Kobani is one community, and it’s a tragedy what is happening there, and we don’t diminish that.” But, Kerry said, the primary U.S. military focus is in neighboring Iraq.
But this week, the U.S. dramatically upped its air power strikes against the Islamic State in and around Kobani, including 59 strikes over the last four days alone, as of Friday. Several hundred Islamic State fighters were killed, the Pentagon said.
Now, the U.S. cannot afford to lose Kobani, said Robert Ford, the former U.S. ambassador to Syria. That means the city’s fate is tied, in part at least, to the success of the U.S.-led strategy against the Islamic State.
“The most important thing about Kobani now is that if it falls to the Islamic State, it would be seen as a defeat for the Americans, and thus would touch on the credibility of the American policy to contain and degrade the Islamic State,” said Ford, now at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
“We have made a real effort to help the defenders in Kobani by targeting various Islamic State assets,” he said. “And if it falls nonetheless, then it makes it looks like the U.S. military couldn’t contain that, and that’s how it would be seen in the region.”
Said Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon’s spokesman: “We never said Kobani didn’t matter.”
Here is a look at why it does:
A KURDISH APPEAL
Despite the barrage of airstrikes, the U.S. so far has been unable to help Kurdish defenders break the siege. The U.S. and its allies have said that airstrikes alone will not be enough to beat back the extremists. That requires ground troops, both in Syria and Iraq.
Since President Obama is adamant that American troops will not join the fight on the ground, the U.S. has been working to help arm, equip and revamp training programs for national and Kurdish Peshmerga security forces in Iraq and moderate rebel fighters in Syria. The Peshmerga and other Kurdish forces have been key in containing – if not defeating – IS across much of northern Iraq. Making sure they keep up that front is a top priority for the U.S.
Irbil, the Kurdish capital in Iraq, asked the Obama administration to increase airstrikes in Kobani, said Mahma Khalil, a Kurdish lawmaker from northern Iraq. While there’s no formal link between the government in Irbil and the Kurdish population in Syria, both dream of an independent nation for ethnic Kurds.
“The current level of airstrikes are not enough to stop the terrorists from seizing Kobani,” Khalil said this week. “The U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Kobani and Iraq should be accelerated more and more” to avoid the extremists from reclaiming areas they were pushed from earlier this summer, he said.
A U.S. military official confirmed Khalil’s account and noted that maintaining good relations with Irbil is an important part of Washington’s strategy against the Islamic militants. The official was not authorized to discuss the diplomatic issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Publicly, the Pentagon and State Department say the reasons for the increased airstrikes at Kobani are twofold: The city has become an easier target in recent days due to an influx of Islamic State fighters who have gathered there. And the strikes serve as a humanitarian relief mission to protect the city while Kurdish fighters reorganize their front.
WHERE’S TURKEY?
Kobani also has become a symbol of Turkey’s reluctance to fight the Islamic State – even in a city right across its border. It is an ongoing example of the difficulty of uniting regional enemies against a common threat, and has created a messy intersection of U.S. military and diplomatic interests.
If Kobani falls, the Islamic extremists will have a border waystation for militants to slip in and out of Turkey. Already, Turkey is grappling with how to tighten its borders against thousands of foreign fighters, mostly from Western and Eastern European nations, who have traveled through Turkey to join the insurgency.
The U.S. has tried for months to coax Turkey into providing more assistance, including border security, to the global coalition against the Islamic State group. So far, Turkey has provided sanctuary to an estimated 200,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and recently agreed to train and equip moderate Syrian rebel fighters trying to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power.
But Turkey is not expected to send troops or aid to the Kurdish fighters who are defending Kobani due to a decades-long dispute it has waged against a Kurdish guerrilla group linked to the city’s defenders. The fighters in Kobani are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which both Turkey and the U.S. consider a terrorist organization.
Turkey has openly said it is blocking Turkish Kurds from joining the fight in Kobani. And neither Turkey nor the Syrian Kurds are enthusiastic about joining ranks if Turkey sends army troops to Kobani.
Further complicating the issue, the U.S. said it has begun talking directly to the Kurdish fighters’ political wing in Kobani – a diplomatic move that could stretch tensions with Turkey even farther.
A Turkish government official on Friday said Ankara does not oppose action that is intended to weaken IS.
“Turkey is part of the coalition against ISIL,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.
THE PROPAGANDA BATTLE FOR KOBANI
The U.S. isn’t sure why IS is fighting so hard for control of Kobani, a city with few resources and far removed from any capital. But like the U.S. with Kobani, a loss to a ragtag group of Kurdish fighters would be a propaganda loss for IS. oh for G-ds sake!! Can someone please send Central Command the frickin youtube videos of ISIS weapons going in and out of Turkey... and include a map of the region...
Much of the daily fighting in Kobani is caught on camera, where TV crews and photographers on the Turkish side of the border have captivated the world’s attention with searing pictures of refugees, black plumes of smoke from explosions, and the sounds of firefights on the city’s streets. In video after video, refugees just across the border can be seen and heard cheering as U.S. airstrikes pound the extremists. The world is also watching numerous constant videos of ISIS transporting weapons on Turkish rail lines, along with continual reinforcements... while at the same time, all Kurds are prevented from returning to Kobane to fight or take in water, food and medical....
IS has published pictures of its militants closing in on Kobani, aiming “to appear strong, undeterred, and unharmed by the strikes,” said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence group, which monitors jihadist networks online. As recently as last week, in pictures and Tweets, the militants’ supporters declared Kobani as theirs, and changed the city’s name to Ayn al-Islam, or Spring of Islam. But the online jeering has quieted considerably after the airstrikes of the last several days.
The Islamic State relies on its global online propaganda machine, run largely by supporters far from the battle, to entice fighters, funding and other aid to the front. If the militants’ victories begin to ebb in such a public forum, U.S. officials believe, so too will their lines of support. That alone makes the battle for Kobani a must-win fight for the U.S. strategy.
And that is not lost on Washington. “What makes Kobani significant is the fact that ISIL wants it,” Kirby said.
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Excellent very short video from Wall Street Journal that shows an overhead view of what is happening where... in Kobani so it makes much more sense, when you try to follow which forces are where and what that means... ...Could not figure out how to post video but the link takes you to WSJ and that video... (probably after a stupid commercial)... .
ISIS is losing face. has assembled many many more resources and is pounding Kobane again...
PYG put out official statement that they are working with FSA.... I'll post that in gallery later tonight...
US coalition still not dropping in water, food or medical supplies... ,
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Looks like the Kobane intelligence was correct re: massive attack... here is most recent article:
Islamic State: US-led coalition strikes pound more IS targets in Syrian border town of KobaneUpdated
10 minutes agoSat 18 Oct 2014, 6:35pmUS-led coalition jets have carried out at least six new air strikes on Islamic State targets in Kobane in a bid to flush the militants out of the besieged Syrian town.
It was not immediately clear how successful the air strikes were in weakening the IS militants' position in and around Kobane.
Shelling continued after the strikes hit the centre of of the town. Several mortars fell inside Turkey near the border gate, called Mursitpinar, according to witnesses.
Islamic State militants have battled Kurdish fighters for a month to take control of Kobane and consolidate a 95-kilometre stretch of land they control along the Turkish border, but stepped-up air strikes in recent days have helped Kurds fend off the advance.
The coalition has been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since August and extended the campaign to Syria in September after the Islamic State made huge territorial gains.
NATO member Turkey is a somewhat reluctant member of the coalition, insisting it must also confront Syria's Bashar al-Assad to end a civil war that has killed some 200,000 civilians since March 2011.
On Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said US-led forces bombing Islamic State in Syria killed 10 civilians in two separate air strikes.
But the US Central Command said there was no evidence to back up the report. A spokesman said its forces use mitigation measures to reduce the potential for civilian casualties.
Intense shelling continues; fighting 'worst in two days'The Syrian Observatory said the Islamic State had launched at least 21 mortar attacks on Saturday close to the border.
Abdulrahman Gok, a journalist inside Kobane, said by telephone that the fighting was the worst in two days.
"In the past hour, the shelling has intensified. They are firing almost one every two minutes," he said, adding that the insurgents were aiming at the east side of town towards the Mursitpinar gate.
A cloud of black smoke towered over the centre of Kobane following the latest air strike as the roar of fighter jets could be heard from a blue sky. Gunfire popped in the west and centre of town.
Elsewhere in Syria, government forces shelled neighbourhoods in Damascus, the southern province of Deraa and the central province of Homs, opposition activists said.
Army helicopters were dropping improvised barrel bombs on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, in northwest Idlib province, which also borders Turkey, they said.
Islamic State supporters circulated what they said was a nine-second video clip of a fighter jet said to be flown by Islamic State militants.
The Observatory reported that Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria were training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo.
US Central Command said on Friday that it was not aware of Islamic State flying jets in Syria.
Reuters said it could not confirm the authenticity of the footage, which showed a jet flying at low altitude.
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News is already referring to Iraq's new MP of Defense Khaled al-Obaidi, relative to war against ISIS (bolded below)
ISIS militants struggle for survival in street battles with Kurds in Kobane- 1 hour ago October 19, 2014 11:40AM
An airstrike by US-led coalition aircraft in Kobane, Syria. Source: Getty Images
ISLAMIC State militants may finally have made a fatal mistake.
Suffering heavy losses on the ground in Syria and dodging a hailstorm of US bombs, their reign of terror could now be seriously weakened.
The extremists battling in Kobane have still not succeeded in cutting off the Syrian-Turkish border, a vital supply route for Kurdish forces.
A violent explosion in Kobane seen from the outskirts of Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border. Source: Getty Images
And the US has this weekend carried out 25 air strikes in Iraq and Syria, targeting the jihadists’ precious oil supplies.
But it is unusual new tactics that could be their undoing, according to an analysis by military researcher Justin Bronk for CNN.
IS forces have committed to a fight in the open where they are vulnerable to airstrikes, wrote Bronk.
With the limited number of fighters, the “meat-grinder” of the Kobani street does not play to IS’s strengths, he added.
Turkish tanks in the south-eastern village of Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, near Kobane. Source: AFP
The jihadists launched a ferocious mortar attack in Kobane yesterday, but were eventually pushed back, suffering heavy losses.
Washington has hailed “encouraging” signs, although it warned that Kobane could still fall, with the fight against IS in Iraq remaining the priority.
The border with Turkey is vital for Kurdish fighters since it is their sole avenue for resupply and the only escape route for remaining civilians, with 200,000 refugees fleeing Kobane since mid-September.
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura warned earlier this month that about 12,000 civilians remained in and around Kobane and risked “massacre” if the militants cut off the border.
Syrian Kurdish refugees in Suruc. The border is a crucial escape route, with more than 200,000 people fleeing from Kobane into Turkey since mid-September. Source: Getty Images
Turkey is turning a deaf ear to pressure to take a more proactive stance in the fight against IS, with Western diplomats repeatedly calling for the NATO member to take a more active role in the resistance.
Overnight, coalition air strikes on IS targets elsewhere in Syria killed 10 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Of 15 air strikes in Syria since Friday, 12 were aimed at “degrading and destroying their oil producing, collecting, storage and transportation infrastructure”, the US Central Command said. Three other strikes hit two IS fighting positions near Kobane and a military camp in the mainly jihadist-held Raqa province.
IS is under increasing pressure, with 25 air strikes in the past two days. Source: AFP
In Baghdad,ministers have finally approved MPs to spearhead the fight against IS after weeks of delay.
One of them is new Sunni defence minister Khaled al-Obaidi, who was a senior officer in the air force of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
His involvement could help the Shi’ite-led government to win the trust of a Sunni minority, many of whom see the armed forces as an instrument of repression — which could be key to defeating IS.
On Friday and Saturday, 10 air strikes targeted IS in Iraq, including five near the strategic Mosul Dam, north of Baghdad, the US military said.
The jihadists again failed to cut off the border despite heavy shelling. Source: Getty Images
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A Kurdish military commander says Kurdish fighters are gaining more ground against the ISIL Takfiri militants in and around the Syrian city of Kobani.
The commander said on Friday that the fighters managed to force out the ISIL militants from most of the city’s areas.
He added that the terrorists, before retreating, had left bombers in the ruins of the various buildings in the city.
The commander went on to express optimism about the possibility of liberating the entire city in the near future.
Reports say Kurdish fighters are currently engaged in heavy fighting with the Takfiri militants in the eastern side of the strategic city.
Kobani and its surroundings have been under attack since mid-September, with the ISIL militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages.
The ISIL advance in the region has forced tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds to flee into Turkey, which is a stone’s throw from Kobani.
Turkey continues to block any delivery of military, medical or humanitarian assistance into Kobani where the ISIL terrorists are feared to be aiming at massive bloodletting.
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Excerpts from book based upon extremely rare interviews with those inside the al-Qaida, which has morphed into the Islamic State IS / ISIS / ISIL Given the IS preference for beheading journalists or otherwise killing them... it is rare to have info from them, much less such a well detailed plan... There is a whole lot of background I'm omitting about the guy who did these interviews... but its pretty amazing.... You'll note in reading the below that it was about 2003 when this was put out... and looking at the 2013 date (which would have been in his future).. its pretty right on... Though the analysis is that as a plan in whole... it won't work... .
An Islamic Caliphate in Seven Easy Steps
In the introduction, the Jordanian journalist writes, “I interviewed a whole range of al-Qaida members with different ideologies to get an idea of how the war between the terrorists and Washington would develop in the future.” What he then describes between pages 202 and 213 is a scenario, proof both of the terrorists’ blindness as well as their brutal single-mindedness. In seven phases the terror network hopes to establish an Islamic caliphate which the West will then be too weak to fight.
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[Year 2000-2003] The First Phase Known as “The Awakening” — this has already been carried out and was supposed to have lasted from 2000 to 2003, or more precisely from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington to the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The aim of the attacks of 9/11 was to provoke the US into declaring war on the Islamic world and thereby “awakening” Muslims. “The first phase was judged by the strategists and masterminds behind al-Qaida as very successful,” writes Hussein. “The battle field was opened up and the Americans and their allies became a closer and easier target.” The terrorist network is also reported as being satisfied that its message can now be heard “everywhere.”
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[Year 2003-2006] The Second Phase “Opening Eyes” is, according to Hussein’s definition, the period we are now in and should last until 2006. Hussein says the terrorists hope to make the western conspiracy aware of the “Islamic community.” Hussein believes this is a phase in which al-Qaida wants an organization to develop into a movement. The network is banking on recruiting young men during this period. Iraq should become the center for all global operations, with an “army” set up there and bases established in other Arabic states.
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[Year 2007-2010] The Third Phase This is described as “Arising and Standing Up” and should last from 2007 to 2010. “There will be a focus on Syria,” prophesies Hussein, based on what his sources told him. The fighting cadres are supposedly already prepared and some are in Iraq. Attacks on Turkey and — even more explosive — in Israel are predicted. Al-Qaida’s masterminds hope that attacks on Israel will help the terrorist group become a recognized organization. The author also believes that countries neighboring Iraq, such as Jordan, are also in danger.
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[Year 2010-2013] The Fifth Phase This will be the point at which an Islamic state, or caliphate, can be declared. The plan is that by this time, between 2013 and 2016, Western influence in the Islamic world will be so reduced and Israel weakened so much, that resistance will not be feared. Al-Qaida hopes that by then the Islamic state will be able to bring about a new world order.
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[Year 2013-2016] The Sixth Phase Hussein believes that from 2016 onwards there will a period of “Total Confrontation.” As soon as the caliphate has been declared the “Islamic army” it will instigate the “fight between the believers and the non-believers” which has so often been predicted by Osama bin Laden.
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[Year 2016 onwards] The Seventh Phase This final stage is described as “Definitive Victory.” Hussein writes that in the terrorists’ eyes, because the rest of the world will be so beaten down by the “one-and-a-half billion Muslims,” the caliphate will undoubtedly succeed. This phase should be completed by 2020, although the war shouldn’t last longer than two years.
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A Serious Plan?
But just how serious is this scenario? “Al-Qaida makes no compromises,” says the book’s author Fouad Hussein. He obviously believes that this seven-point plan could well become the guiding principle for a whole range of al-Qaida fighters. Hussein is far from an hysterical alarmist — in fact he is seen as a serious journalist and his Zarqawi book is better than most of the reports in Arabic on the subject. Only last year, the journalist made a film which was received with great interest and was shown on the German-French TV channel arte. In it he provided deep insights into al-Qaida’s internet propaganda machine.
Nevertheless, there is no way the scenario he depicts can be seen as a plan which al-Qaida can follow step by step. The terrorist network just doesn’t work like that anymore. The significance of the central leadership has diminished and its direct commands have lost a great deal of importance. The supposed master plan for the years 2000 to 2020 reads in parts more like a group of ideas cobbled together in retrospect, than something planned and presented in advance. And not to mention the terrorist agenda is simply unworkable: the idea that al-Qaida could set up a caliphate in the entire Islamic world is absurd. The 20-year plan is based mainly on religious ideas. It hardly has anything to do with reality — especially phases four to seven.
But that doesn’t mean that we should simply discount everything that Hussein has uncovered. A few of the steps in the agenda are plausible. The idea that Syria will become a focus for the Mujahedin is regarded by experts as highly likely. “Close ranks, concentrate on getting more recruits, set up cells,” was the call to the “Mujahedin in Syria” which appeared on one Web site at the beginning of August. From the point of view of the jihadists, Israel and Turkey are also fairly logical targets for an escalation of the confrontation. “Al-Qaida views every fight as a victory, because for so long Muslims didn’t have any weapons at all,” says Hussein. He may not be far off. As for Jordan, al-Qaida leaders such as al-Zarqawi, have already made attacks on the country. They have also stated on numerous occasions that Jerusalem is the real target.
Equally, the idea that in the future al-Qaida could increasingly become a movement that attracts young frustrated men, is hardly a theory plucked out of thin air. The terror network puts a lot of effort into its propaganda — assumedly in order to expand its support base.
Attacks on the West: a Means to an End
What is interesting is that major attacks against the West are not even mentioned by Fouad Hussein. Terrorism here cannot be ignored — but it seems these attacks simply supplement the larger aim of setting up an Islamic caliphate. Attacks such as those in New York, Madrid and London would in this case not be ends in themselves, but rather means to a achieve a larger purpose — steps in a process of increasing insecurity in the West.Nowadays, it is harder than ever to truly understand al-Qaida: the organization has degenerated into branches and loosely connected cells, related groups are taken in, and people who hardly had anything to do with al-Qaida before, now carry out attacks in its name. It is hard to imagine orders which come right from the top because Osama bin Laden spends all his time struggling to survive. At the same time, the division between foot soldiers in the organization and sympathizers is becoming increasingly blurred. It is all too easy to fall prey to disinformation — al-Qaida also excels in this area. Even Hussein’s scenario should be judged skeptically.
His book should therefore be read for what it really is: an attempt to second guess how al-Qaida terrorists think, what they really want and how they propose to get there.
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[Year 2000-2003] The First Phase Known as “The Awakening” — this has already been carried out and was supposed to have lasted from 2000 to 2003, or more precisely from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington to the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The aim of the attacks of 9/11 was to provoke the US into declaring war on the Islamic world and thereby “awakening” Muslims. “The first phase was judged by the strategists and masterminds behind al-Qaida as very successful,” writes Hussein. “The battle field was opened up and the Americans and their allies became a closer and easier target.” The terrorist network is also reported as being satisfied that its message can now be heard “everywhere.”
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Might not be over quite yet....IS knows the world is watching and a defeat would show the world they are not the unstoppable force they seem to have been in places like Iraq.... The huge difference has been having ground forces who take them on in fighting (versus the Iraqi who fled upon seeing them)..... This is some of the info coming in within the last hour 12:00 PDT
Very heavy clashes in Kobane the coalition is supporting the defensive front-lines of YPG and shell IS positions intermittently....
"Turkish army turns off the lights of the border with Kobane to send more ammo to IS in Kobane" reports a battalion leader of FSA (reminder the US is supporting/arming the FSA, considering them on the side of the US)..... With the lights off on the Turkish border of Kobane, they are also taking in wounded ISIS fighters for treatment....
Polat Can, YPG spokesman, says that ISIS is attacking the city of Kobane from 5 places, they are shelling the city randomly and according to Polat Can, ISIS is launching its biggest offensive tonight against the city of Kobane
There have been numerous reports with differing numbers as to casualities .... YPG reports 133 YPG YPJ and FSA fighters have died in battle
ISIS is using chemical weapons against Kobane civilians and military... resulting in horrible deaths.... (I chose not to post any pictures) .
From France TV 24..(sorry can't figure out how to put the embedded video in here... but this is narrative) ..
Had the enemy sniper aimed any higher, Marghas Magharen might not have escaped Kobane's inferno.Like hundreds of other injured Kurdish fighters, the 17-year-old is now recovering in a hospital across the Syrian border with Turkey.
“I was hit in the leg and taken to a field hospital in Kobane. I stayed there for a week and then an ambulance brought me here to get surgery,” Magharen told FRANCE 24’s reporters at the border.
For over a month, Kurdish forces in the city of Kobane have fought off a bloody offensive by members of the so-called Islamic State group.
Outgunned and outnumbered, the fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) have defied the odds to defend the Syrian border city, which has been all but surrounded by the heavily armed jihadists.
Hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians have already fled to neighbouring Turkey, but for the fighters left behind there is now only one route left across the border.
So far, ambulances have been using this road to rush wounded fighters from Kobane to the nearest Turkish hospital.
But doctors say more lives could be saved if Turkish medical volunteers were allowed to cross the border and tend to the injured inside Kobane.
“We've got teams of volunteers ready to go to Kobane if a humanitarian corridor opens up,” says Fikret Cala, a first-aid worker.
Yet, despite mounting international pressure, the government in Ankara has refused to open its border with Syria.
Turkey, which has a large Kurdish population, is deeply suspicious of attempts to create an autonomous Kurdish entity in Syria.
As a result, Turkish tanks have sat idle along the border, refusing to intervene in support of Kobane.
Meanwhile, over at the hospital, Magharen is itching to return to battle as soon as he gets rid of his crutches.
But that is another thing Turkey is unlikely to allow.
From the UK Daily Mail
Exclusive: Savage women warriors terrifying the jihadis who believe if they're killed by a female they won't go to heaven- Army of women in desperate battle to defend Kobane from Islamic State
- Nesrin Abdi carries rifle in case she is captured and needs to shoot herself
- The medical student is a part of an all female wing of the Kurdish army
- Says ISIS militants are terrified of being killed by a woman and fear they won't go to heaven
- Dispatch from Turkey/Syria border by Daily Mail's Sam Greenhill with photographs by Jamie Wiseman
By Sam Greenhill for the Daily Mail
Published: 17:47 EST, 17 October 2014 | Updated: 06:29 EST, 18 October 2014
Courage: Fighter Nesrin Abdi pictured with her comrades on the battlefield in Kobane
You wouldn’t know it from her sweet smile, but the reason why Nesrin Abdi carries a rifle is in case she needs to shoot herself dead.
This, she explained matter-of-factly, would be preferable to being captured by the monsters of Islamic State.
Nesrin, a 20-year-old medical student, is by all accounts a happy, well-educated, middle-class young woman with an infectious joy for life.
In her home town of Kobane on the Syria-Turkey border, moments of joy are rare, but a photograph captures the triumphant moment three days ago when she was among Kurdish fighters who recaptured a strategic hill from the Islamic State invaders.
The jihadis’ sinister black flag was torn down and replaced with a fluttering Kurdish red-and-yellow banner, marking what may well prove a symbolic turning point in the life-and-death struggle for the besieged town.
But Nesrin, a doctor’s daughter who has joined an army of women battling to defend Kobane, is aware that every day could be her last.
She told me: ‘Everyone knows what happens if IS catches you. For a woman it is rape, followed by beheading. We have all seen the videos of the American and British hostages beheaded in the desert. They will treat us the same.
‘I carry a Kalashnikov and if I am cornered face-to-face with an IS fighter, I don’t know exactly what I will do. Maybe I will kill him or maybe I will kill myself.’
The battle for Kobane has raged for a month and the stakes could hardly be higher. On Nato’s doorstep, it has become a litmus test of the resolve of America and its allies to crush the growing menace of Islamic State.
The bloodthirsty fanatics are pouring in reinforcements and have the town in a deadly stranglehold, with up to 13,000 civilians trapped inside, including the elderly and babies hungry for milk. The United Nations has warned of ‘another Srebenica’ — like the massacre in Bosnia in 1995 — unless the world acts.
Photographer Jamie Wiseman and I have been witnessing the struggle unfold from a Turkish hilltop overlooking the town. In the past four days, cheered by Kurds on the hilltop, the U.S. has stepped up the coalition bombing campaign of IS targets, claiming its warplanes have blown up 600 jihadis along with American tanks and artillery that they pilfered from the Iraqi army.The U.S. blitz is welcome — one Kurdish couple have named their newborn son Obama in gratitude — but the battle cannot be won by air power alone.
Nesrin, circled, pictured at a ceremony in July when she joined the YPJ fighters to defend her hometown of Kobane from ISIS militants
Nesrin, pictured left in her YPJ uniform and at a Kurdish National celebration, right, says the jihadists are feared of being killed by a woman
On the ground, resistance troops have taken advantage of the air raids to mount an unlikely comeback and retake some parts of the town. They are commanded by a woman, and dozens of female fighters swell their ranks.
When I spoke to Nesrin Abdi yesterday, she explained why the all-female wing of the Kurdish force defending Kobane — the YPJ — is striking fear into the hearts of the jihadi men.
‘For Daesh [an Arabic term for IS], to be killed by a woman means he will not go to Heaven. When we fight them, we are fierce and we let them know they are being killed by women,’ she said.
Miss Abdi, far left, pictured with her school friends before the war. She says Kurdish women have been fighting alongside the men since the 1930s
Nesrin pictured as a child. Her mother has now fled the fighting in Kobane and gone to Turkey but says she is proud of her daughter
In the heat of battle, the female Kurdish fighters issue a chilling war cry — a shrill warble — to announce their presence to their black-clad foes.
‘It is so, so important that it is women fighting IS,’ said Nesrin. ‘In their culture, women are slaves. They treat them as objects whose lives are worth nothing.’
In the warped world of the Islamic caliphate, which has stunned the world with its sweeping victories across Syria and Iraq, girls and women lose all rights and forgo their education. Some are even sold into slavery.
In flames: Fires burn among shattered buildings in the Syrian border town of Kobane as darkness falls
Nesrin said: ‘Kurdish women have fought hard to prove their equality, and fighting Daesh is a symbol of our freedom.’ About a quarter of the fighters in the Syrian Kurdish army — some 10,000 — are women. Of these, at least several hundred are currently believed to be fighting inside Kobane. They speak of being ‘closer than sisters’.
Recruitment to the YPJ is voluntary; women join up because it is in their blood. They have been fighting alongside men in Kurdish ranks since the 1930s — and even before they were allowed on the front line, some dressed up as men to enlist.
Kurdish activist Hatice Cevik said: ‘Not all women fighting right now were fighters before the war started. They were working or studying. Some of them were housewives. Women in Kobane are fighting for their freedom and Kurdish men are proud of that.’
Nesrin’s mother (her father died when she was young) has fled to Turkey but is also full of pride, though she is gripped with terror at what might become of her.
‘Of course she worries all the time,’ said Nesrin, who also has an elder sister. ‘But what can I do? I cannot make her feel relaxed. I always tell her this is my duty. I am a girl from this town and I need to defend it. My father and mother were born here, our ancestors are buried here — these things make me strong.
‘It would be better to die for freedom here than to live anywhere else.’
Nonetheless, it is a wretched existence. The exhausted, battle-weary fighters ****** sleep when they can, often for no more than an hour at a time.
Desperate situation: Medication is in short supply in the town and doctors warn that after this weekend they will be out of antibiotics, bandages and anaesthetic
Clutching their rifles and hand grenades, they drift off knowing that a mortar bomb landing nearby might mean they never wake.
The nights are particularly cruel because then there is no hiding from the jihadis, who gleefully brag on social media that they can see in the dark with their looted American night-vision goggles.
The street fighting rages around the clock. Propaganda videos released by the Kurds show women and men fighting alongside each other against the jihadis, blasting away with their battered Kalashnikov rifles through slots in walls.
Nesrin feels afraid every night, but says she is ‘getting used’ to the bone-shaking booms of the shelling and airstrikes.
Speaking to me from across the border on her mobile phone, with the help of a Kurdish translator, she described how the fighters keep their spirits up.
‘We listen to songs and we sing songs. In spite of the death around us there is also love of life, and love of free lives,’ she said. ‘This gives us moral support. To be defending your home town is life itself.’
I asked if she dreams of the future to keep her spirits strong, and she said: ‘I will go back to my university to become a doctor. I was only in the second year.’
Fog of war: Thick black smoke rises slowly from an exploded car in the stricken town
She also wants to document the battle unfolding around her so the world can see what is happening.
What about a husband and children? She laughs. ‘In this situation, I don’t know. I cannot think about these things at the moment. I think I am too young.’ In Kobane, those old enough to carry a gun — and even some who are not — are armed.
‘Everybody is fighting. There are women my age who have been given hand grenades to throw,’ says a 63-year-old woman called Alife Ali at a hospital in Suruc, just across the border in Turkey. ‘We will fight to the last person.’
Behind the front line, mothers whose sons and daughters are fighting organise meals for everyone, using tinned food topped up with stocks of tomatoes and cucumbers. In the stricken town money is no longer worth anything, so the dwindling supplies of food can be obtained for free.
But medication is in short supply and doctors warn that after this weekend they will be out of antibiotics, bandages and anaesthetic. Powdered baby milk has run out.
Some joke optimistically that ‘when the war is won by women’ they will make men do the washing-up for evermore.
Shell shock: The people of Kobane endure the daily bone-shaking booms of the shelling and airstrikes
Local politician Imad Shahin, from the Kurdish PYD party, said: ‘Islamic State are trying to commit genocide against us.
‘We are being attacked by these monsters because we have equality between men and women. In a Muslim society some think it is shameful for a girl to fight, but our fighters have broken all the rules to show the world that our women are free.
‘The bravery of the women makes the men fight harder because they don’t want to be outdone by a woman.’
Indeed, a woman is leading the battle to save Kobane. With the nom de guerre Narin Afrin, and described as ‘beautiful, innocent and strong’, she is general commander of the troops defending the town.
She has been lionised on social media. Maajid Nawaz, of the counter-extremist Quilliam Foundation think-tank in London, wrote on Twitter: ‘Hero. Remember her name.’
Familiar battleground: Street fighting rages around the clock with men and women from Kobane fighting alongside each other against the jihadis
Earlier this week Narin Afrin appealed for heavy weapons, saying in a statement posted online: ‘IS are using tanks. Unfortunately we don’t have anti-tank weapons.’
After a month of horror, the desperation on both sides is mounting. Gains made by the Kurds this week, with the help of American airstrikes, have given them hope of being able to sweep the jihadis out of town. But for how long?
We can only wonder what will happen to Nesrin and the women fighting at her side when IS — which still commands all the Syrian territory around Kobane — regathers its strength and launches another murderous assault.
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2nd Nurse with Ebola may have had worse case during flights
Amber Vinson
DENVER - The president of Frontier Airlines says a nurse who was on flights between Dallas and Cleveland and who later tested positive for Ebola may have been at a more advanced stage of the illness than previously thought.
Amber Joy Vinson, 29, was diagnosed with Ebola on Wednesday. She had helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient in the U.S., at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital before the Liberian man died Oct. 8.
Late Wednesday, Vinson was transferred to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, which has successfully treated two American Ebola patients without the disease spreading further.
It remains unclear how she and fellow Texas Health Presbyterian nurse Nina Pham acquired the virus, according to officials at the Centers for Disease Controls.
Frontier Airlines president Barry Biffle emailed employees Friday about the findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said the CDC has assured the Denver-based airline that crewmembers on the flights are at a very low risk of exposure.
The airline put the pilots and flight attendants on leave for 21 days, which health experts consider the outer limit of how long it would take someone exposed to Ebola to become sick.
Biffle says passengers on Vinson's flight from Dallas to Cleveland on Oct. 10 and her return flight to Dallas on Monday have been notified. Officials said Vinson was visiting family in northeast Ohio to prepare for her wedding.
The CDC said it is attempting to track down all 132 passengers aboard the plane she took because of "the proximity in time between the evening flight and first report of illness. Vinson exhibited no signs or symptoms of illness while on flight 1143, according to the crew.
Pham was taken to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on Thursday night to continue her treatment.
Forgot to add that i read somewhere that the crew was not immediately grounded..and came in contact with another 800 before they were.... probably okay and even if they were infected (doubtful) they would not have been contagious..... I just can't believe protocol didn't ground them immediately....
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Wow Nadita.... that is a lot of stuff to distill.. and boil down so concisely.... Thanks for the update... don't know how you do it, but glad you do... thanks...
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Latest Updates Across the Region:
Latest updates:
11:14 P.M. Car bombs rock Baghdad, at least 24 killed
A string of car bombs killed at least 24 people across Baghdad on Friday night, medical and police officials said, amid a surge of violence in the capital. No one immediately said they were responsible for the blasts, but other attacks in recent weeks have been claimed by Sunni Muslim militant group Islamic State, which is battling the Shi'ite Muslim-led government and has seized large parts of neighboring Syria.
A parked car blew up near a coffee shop in the Shi'ite area of Baladiyat, killing nine people and wounding 28, the officials said. Another blast killed nine and wounded 28 in the Sunni neighborhood of Slaikh, while a third car bomb blew up by a row of liquor stores in the affluent Karrada neighborhood, killing six and wounding 14 others, the officials added.
The attack came the day after bombs killed 36 in Baghdad and areas bordering the capital.” (Reuters)
10:35 P.M. Yemeni Shi'ite rebels overrun Al-Qaida stronghold
Yemen's Shi'ite rebels on Friday overran an Al-Qaida stronghold after days of battling the militants for the city in the country's central heartland, a Yemeni official and a tribal leader said.
The capture of the city of Radda, in the in the province of Bayda, came with the help of a Yemeni army commander, the two said.
The Shi'ite rebels known as Houthis have been fighting both Al-Qaida militants and Sunni tribes over the past few days. The rebels, who in September gained control of the capital, Sanaa, earlier this week overran a key Yemeni port city on the Red Sea.
The Houthis entered Radda on Friday, after the commander of Yemeni army's Battalion 193 gave up his troops positions, a security official and a tribal leader from the city said.
The action, mirrored similar instances in the past when units in Yemen's army suspected of links with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Houthi ally, facilitated stunning rebel advances from their home base in northern Saada province.
The army commander who helped the Houthis in Radda is said to be a loyalist of the ousted Saleh, who was deposed after the country's 2011 uprising. Saleh and his party have joined ranks with the Houthis against a common enemy — the Islamist Islah party and its allied tribe of Al-Ahmar, traditional power brokers in Yemen. (AP)
9:05 P.M. U.S. launches six air strikes near Kobani
U.S. fighter aircraft launched six air strikes on Islamic State positions near Kobani, Syria, and its allies hit militant targets in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Friday.
U.S. forces damaged Islamic State fighting positions, vehicles and buildings near Kobani and a strike hit oil collection equipment near Shadadi in a bid to disrupt the militants' ability to operate oil tankers, Central Command said in a statement.
The statement did not say which nations were involved in the strikes in Iraq near Baiji. (Reuters)
6:30 P.M. Shi'ite rebels, Islamists clash in central Yemen
Yemeni security officials say fierce clashes have erupted between Shiite rebels in control of the capital and tribesmen allied with the country's Islamist Islah party, leaving eight dead.
The officials say the Friday battles in Ibb province, nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Sanaa, came as Shiite rebels known as Houthis seek to gain more territory outside the capital, which they overran last month. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
The governor of Ibb, Yahia al-Iryani, urged the fighters to leave the province. In the adjacent province of Taiz, Major General Mahmoud al-Subehi, the military commander of the region, said he has bolstered its defenses and will defend it from the Houthis. (AP)
3:06 P.M. Sunni tribesmen and Houthi fighters clash in Yemen, eight dead
At least eight people were killed in heavy fighting between Sunni Muslim tribesmen and Shi'ite Houthi rebels in central Yemen on Friday, as the battle crept closer to an al-Qaida stronghold, increasing fears of outright sectarian warfare.
The Houthi rebels established themselves as Yemen's new powerbrokers last month, capturing Sanaa on Sept. 21 to little resistance from residents or from the weak administration of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Their ascendance has angered al-Qaida, which views Shi'ites as heretics and Houthis as pawns of Iran. Last week, the Yemen-based alQaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed a suicide bombing on a Houthi gathering that killed at least 47 people.
In Friday's fighting, at least six Houthi fighters and two tribesmen were killed on the outskirts and inside the city of Ibb, 150 km (90 miles) south of Sanaa, witnesses said.
"We are hearing the sound of machineguns and mortars everywhere," a resident told Reuters by telephone. (Reuters)
1:53 P.M. Kurds sharing intel with U.S. for Syria strikes
A Kurdish official says fighters are sharing information with the U.S.-led coalition to coordinate strikes against Islamic State militants in the Syrian border town of Kobani.
Nawaf Khalil, spokesman of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, said Friday that coordination began last week as IS fighters closed in on the town that lies near the Turkish border.
Kurdish fighters in Kobani mostly belong to the party's military wing.
The battlefield coordination could further complicate relations between Washington and Ankara, which views the Syrian Kurdish party with suspicion. Turkey believes the party is an extension of the Kurdish PKK, which waged a long and bloody insurgency in Turkey and is designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and NATO. (AP)
1:10 P.M. UN. Syria envoy to visit Russia next week
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura will visit Russia next week, the Moscow-based UN information center said on Friday.
Russia, which has stood by Syrian President Bashar Assad during the three-year-old conflict, has objected to a U.S.-backed bombing campaign against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria, saying they should have been agreed with Assad.
De Mistura is expected to meet Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Oct. 21, RIA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying. (Reuters)
12:00 P.M. Iraq imposes curfew in Ramadi, fearing militants
Iraqi officials in the western Anbar province say a curfew has been imposed in the provincial capital Ramadi over fears that the Islamic State group might try to advance on the city.
Sabah Karhout, the chairman of the Anbar provincial council, says the curfew began at midnight Friday as part of an effort to limit movement in and out of the city.
The Islamic State group has been making gains around Ramadi in recent weeks against the embattled Iraqi military, despite ongoing U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on the militants.
Two Iraqi military officials, speaking anonymously because they are not authorized to brief the media, say major operations are underway in Salahuddin province to retake key areas from the Sunni militants around Tikrit and the Beiji oil refinery. (AP)
00:20 A.M. Iran, Russia hold joint naval exercise
Iran's state television says two Russian warships have left a northern Iranian port after the two countries held a joint, three-day naval exercise in the Caspian Sea.
Thursday's report on the TV's website quoted Iranian Adm. Afshin Rezaei Haddad, who is Iran's navy commander in the Caspian Sea, as saying that the Russian vessels departed from the northern Iranian port of Anzali on Wednesday. No further details were given.
It was the first visit in decades by a Russian fleet to an Iranian port in the Caspian Sea. In recent years Iran's navy has increased its bilateral relations with various countries, including China and Pakistan.
Last year, a Russian naval group docked in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on the way home from a Pacific Ocean voyage. (AP)
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No Nelg... I'm glad you said something.... Not that I'm soliciting... but when I don't see pluses (or negs ugh) and there is no commentary, I start wondering if no one is interested... and hope I'm not doing this as something that's intrusive on the board... It belongs to everyone and I want to make sure I'm not being piggish... ewww.
At the same, while doing this, it really hit me just how different is the news we get in the US... And for the limited amount we do get... its days late... We here on DV have been ahead of all of what I hear on US News by a day...(including the article I'm about to post which is like a day or two behind what we already knew here...
The other thing that occurred to me is how many of us say that MSM is bunk, or slanted... or controlled... but I don't recall ever seeing actual discussions that highlight that very claim by many, so concretely evident.... The contrast is almost stunning... actual real news of events we don't even hear about... or do hear in passing... and its some news blurb that's way off base.
If I were to listen only to say the White House briefings I would believe that Kobane is not at all important... that the coalition is off somewhere else fighting real ISIS and eliminating real ISIS troops and threats.. and that Kobane will fall into ISIS hands any day..... And I might not understand why our NATO partner Turkey didn't get voted into the UNSC, and would probably think that Turkey training Syrian coalition forces made sense in terms of proximity.... .
When in fact, 9000 ISIS troops marched across open desert, ISIS is dedicating a massive number of troops to Kobane in huge concentrations... the YPG has huge body counts with photographed evidence... that Turkey is allowing ISIS in and out of its borders while arresting or actually bombing Kurds wanting to join family in Kobane.... that the US will arm the Syrian rebles fighting with YPG, but not YPG, when YPG is the only boots on the ground actually eliminating ISIS and on and on.... Had it not been for international protests of huge proportion.... ongoing and insistent... the US might not have ever joined the Battle for Kobani... and thousands of ISIS would have lived... Had that awareness everywhere but in the US not been so insistent, the US would not have likely entered into talks with the only boots on the ground (YPG) that are eliminating ISIS.... For heaven's sake... the Iraqi Army dropped arms and fled allowing ISIS to take 3 major cities in one day... And in the YPG is fighting and killing ISIS without limited arms far inferior to the US arms ISIS brought to the battle... without water, without food without first aid... for 33 days!!!.... I don;t yet understand why the US does not do a genuine humanitarian drop of at least water and food to the Kobane fighters... And there's been no drop of better arms to fight, however the YPG is slowly taking over ISIS fire power to at least stay in the game... We would not really know any of that if we listened to our news.... That is frightening.... disgusting and confirming any suspicion that we don't hear what's really going on.... (and btw, YPG is the term I am using to refer to the Kurds defending Kobane.... Technically the YPG is the guys army and YPJ is the women's division of the Kurdish troops fighting there)...
So thanks Nelg for the input..I appreciate it...
And once again as we already know.... its now being announced in US news that the US is in formal talks with the YPG boots on the ground....
The United States government has for the first time officially acknowledged coordinating with the YPG in Kobane.
In Yesterday's (17 October) daily press briefing at the U.S. Department of State, a question was posed to Deputy Spokesperson Mari Harf on whether YPG claims of coordination between them and the coalition was true. Marie Harf's reply was "We try and get intelligence from a wide range of people. There is some intelligence sharing going on. Obviously this is not something that you can replicate everywhere off course, but in this case that [information] is correct".
Separately, U.S. Central Command General Lloyd J. Austin also gave a briefing yesterday on the operations against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Regarding Kobane General Austin had this to say:
"ISIS has made a decision to make Kobane their main effort. (Look at the contrast with Kerry's original statements and all that's been discussed in here) They are continuing to pour manpower into that effort. My aim is to destroy ISIS, and if they continue to present us with targets, as they have done in the Kobane area, then we will service those targets which we have been doing very effectively as of late. As long as they pour legions of forces into that area, we'll stay focused on taking them out."
General Austin also had words of praise for the YPG and YPJ forces defending Kobane, saying "We are seeing the Kurds fight to regain territories that were lost previously, some very determined fighters out there, and I think we've been able to help that along with precision airstrikes in the last couple of days."
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Please Read the above... very informative...
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Interesting Synopsis, essentially cuing on some of the same aspects as discussed in here.... IF you can only read one thing.... this would be it:
By Gary Brecher
On October 16, 2014
KUWAIT CITY — A strange thing happened in Kobane, the Kurdish border town besieged by Islamic State: It didn’t fall.In fact, today the BBC reported that Islamic State, the supposedly invincible jihadis who have been besieging Kobane, is retreating from the city.
Nobody expected that. Well, nobody except me. I’ve been saying for a long time that IS(IS) was the most overhyped military force on the planet, and that IS has been attacking Kobane for fifteen months—fifteen damn months—without success, which might just sort of suggest it’s not the juggernaut it’s been made out to be, and that IS’s other supposedly scary advance toward Baghdad is no more than a sad attempt to recover some of the Sunni suburbs of the capital the Sunni controlled completely less than a decade ago.
But I learned a long time ago you don’t get rich being right in this business, so I wasn’t surprised to be all alone yelling “Paper Tiger!” at IS while all the Lexus-driving pundits went into hysterical Victorian-girl fits on TV. It comes with the territory, like the roaches in our Kuwaiti kitchen.
Of course, it was only the suckers in the punditry who were actually surprised to find out how weak IS really is. The guys in the Pentagon must have known better—at least I friggin’ hope so—but they were pushing the “Kobane delenda est” line as hard as any dumb-ass pundit—not because they really bought into the IS juggernaut meme but because they *wanted* Kobane to fall, and the sooner the better.
That may seem surprising at first. After all, the enemy this Kurdish militia was facing, IS(IS), has been selling captured women and girls into sex slavery—and you don’t have to take my word for it. These freaks actually published an article in their house magazine, Dabiq, boasting about the way they enslaved, sold, and raped all the women and girls they captured in Sinjar:
With an enemy like that, you’d expect the freedom-luvin’ rulers of the U.S. to be fairly enthusiastic about helping the Kurds defend Kobane. But they’ve never been into it, inventing one excuse after another for leaving the Kurdish YPG militia to face these friggin’ monsters all by themselves. The Pentagon’s Press Secretary John Kirby even said it was the Kurds’ own fault:
“The Yazidi women and children were then divided according to the sharia amongst the fighters of the Islamic State . . . after one-fifth of the slaves were transferred to the Islamic State authority to be divided as khums,” or required payment of spoils of war to a caliph, the article says.
It continues, “The enslaved Yazidi families are then sold by the Islamic State soldiers.”
That’s utter crap, of course. You’d be hard put to find better light infantry than the YPG anywhere in the world. But that was the scenario the Pentagon had worked out: Kobane would fall, Islamic State would move in, tsk-tsk, what a tragedy, and the sooner that tragedy happened, the better for everyone.
“We don’t have a willing, capable, effective partner on the ground inside Syria. It’s just a fact. I can’t change that.”
A non-stop grinner, Admiral Kirby kept “warning,” which is to say, “hoping and praying,” that Kobane was going to fall one of these days. Kirby was worse than an end-times preacher, just as eager for the disaster he was supposed to be preventing. Here’s Kirby, preaching Armageddon in a briefing on October 9:
It’s unusual for a Pentagon flack to speak that plainly. They usually prefer the language of what “could” or “may” happen. But there was Kirby, a week ago, saying bluntly that Kobane, like a sinner rejected by Calvin’s God, was not going to be saved. And, if that wasn’t enough, he adds a little advice for the press: “…[W]e all should be steeling ourselves for that eventuality.”
(CNN) — U.S. airstrikes “are not going to save” the key Syrian city of Kobani from being overtaken by ISIS, said Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby.
“I think we all should be steeling ourselves for that eventuality,” he told reporters in a daily briefing Wednesday.
Amen, Admiral! The end was nigh!
You’d think a pundit or two would have asked, “Why? Why must Kobane’s end be nigh?” Because there’s this little thing called “air-dropping supplies.” The USAF is pretty good at that—managed to keep the whole city of Berlin fed and fueled more than a half-century ago. All those transports, all that practice air-dropping expensive materiel to every worthless militia in the world…and we couldn’t drop a few TOWs, or just RPG rounds, to the defenders? Kobane’s defenders didn’t even have enough water, but you didn’t hear anything about the US water-bombing them.
Because, very simply, the US was waiting eagerly for the town to fall. There were all sorts of reasons for this, and none make any real sense. The two biggest are: (a) The hick Islamists running Turkey tilt toward IS and hate Kurds, all Kurds, with the same insane virulence that Turks hate all their neighbors, and especially any minority that dares to identify itself as non-Turkish; (
The YPG militia defending Kobane is linked to the PKK movement, which is nominally “Socialist,” and American apparatchiks, no matter who’s officially in charge, have never un-learned the anti-Commie nonsense they learned at Georgetown; and © The “brave, doomed defenders of Kobane” were worth much more dead than alive, much more in defeat than in victory. If they lost, they’d be beheaded by the vicious loons in IS, and those severed-head videos would be great US agitprop, a great little way to put more pressure on Turkey over the theatre the US really cares about—Iraq.So the message from DC was clear: “Die, Kurds! Die, and do it on-camera and soon!”
And in case anyone missed the point, John Kerry, who’s Secretary of State, or at least plays one on TV, made one of his stirring speeches—remember Kerry’s bold orations from 2004, when he managed to look like a wimp compared to a guy who spent the Vietnam war in Alabama? Kerry could convince a wolverine to give up and sob in despair, rather than fight. And he did his best to work his defeatist magic on Kobane, by making it very clear the U.S. wanted no part of the fight:
“Kobane does not define the strategy for the coalition in respect to Daesh [iSIL in Arabic]. Kobane is one community and it is a tragedy what is happening there. And we do not diminish that,” Kerry said.If you can stay awake through Kerry’s Eeyore monotone, you get the idea: He’s saying, “Die, Kobane! Die! Fall, already!” As a general rule, when someone tells you, “It’s a tragedy, and we do not diminish that,” you should make your peace with God, because they’ve decided you’re expendable.
So the end was nigh for Kobane, according to the whole DC elite. Well, It’s now October 16, 2014, and Kobane has disappointed the Admiral just like the universe disappoints all the Armageddon preachers who’ve ever lived, doing the one thing they really won’t stand for: Not falling.
So the question has changed from “When will Kobane fall?” to “Why didn’t Kobane fall?”
There are three major reasons for the non-fall of Kobane. I’ll try to explain them quickly here.
1. Because Islamic State is a lousy, overrated fighting force.
Did I mention that I tole ya so? Yeah, well, I’m saying it again: I tole ya so. Islamic State is good at one thing: Hype. And I don’t say that entirely dismissively. Hype is a very important part of combat, whether it’s a schoolyard fight or a full-on war. Many battles—you might argue, most battles—are won on hype. But hype only works on weak opponents. So, when IS started its hick-krieg (thanks to Anibale for that term) over the plains of Iraq last June, the so-called Iraqi Army fled without firing a shot. That “army” was a corrupt ARVN-model mess of scared Shia boys, commanded by venal creeps, and they never even tried standing up to IS.
The Kurds are a whole different matter. They’ve never been scared of any Arab force. There’s not a lot of love lost between Kurds and Arabs—I knew a guy in Suli whose dad was a professor of Arabic, taught it to him from birth, but he refused to speak a word of it, in memory of the Anfal.
Kurdish irregulars held Saddam’s Sunni army back for years; the notion that they should fear a much lesser Sunni militia would be laughable to them.
So, when surrounded by this new, scary, Sunni militia called Islamic State, the Kurdish YPG militia in Kobane simply fought back, as a matter of course, with no fuss or panic—not even when the creeps in IS sawed off the heads of the women of the YPJ and photographed them like trophies, including this shot of a woman who looks worryingly like my best World Lit student in Sulimaniya. [scroll down to bottom photo. Warning: Very Graphic.]
None of that scared the Kurds. And they soon revealed how badly IS fought against people who didn’t scare. Here’s a memorable—not to say hilarious—clip showing how badly IS fought in Kobane, wasting the expensive armor they took from the Iraqi Army:
An IS tank advances with no infantry support down a rubble-filled street in Kobane, not even using its machine guns to disperse the YPG men who stroll out into the street once it’s passed, not even bothering to hide. For those who’ve never heard of shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons, this is about as smart as rolling around the floor of a butcher shop, then jumping into the tiger enclosure at the zoo to preach the gospel to the big cats. Tanks without infantry support have been death-traps for generations, and the very worst place to send them is a narrow, rubble-filled street. Everybody knows that.
The Kurdish men and boys shadowing the tank know it. They’re all but laughing at this ridiculous contraption, waiting eagerly for what they know is going to happen.
The tank stops at an intersection, elevates its main gun, and fires down the street at an unseen target. The YPG men gesture expectantly, starting to flinch for the first time—not at this useless hulk of a tank but because their friends down that street are fitting the RPG round into the launcher, and they know there’s going to be a big dose of what the DoD calls “kinetic” where that tank is standing.
The tank fires again, and less than a second later, it explodes as that RPG round sends superheated molten metal spraying through it as droplets of the MBT armor now zip into the crew compartment at the speed of detonating TNT, as the blast knocks the turret half-off and turns anyone inside to instant bulgoki. Somebody’s little jihadi won’t be comin’ home to Hamburg or Tunis or Croydon, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of filthy woman-selling, child-raping swine.
IS has supposedly lost at least 300 men in Kobane. And I do mean “men”; IS, unlike the YPG/J, does not allow women in combat. In fact, misogyny is about the biggest plank in their platform, and a huge part of this weird 21st century iteration of “jihad.” I suspect the total is actually much higher, because IS, quite simply, are idiots. They did everything wrong, from advancing across the entire front—west, south, and east, and the only reason they didn’t come at Kobane from the north too is that the Turks own that border and didn’t want their secret friends in IS to be that overt about the alliance. Then they kept trying to gain land even when the US got serious about air strikes. Which brings us to reason number two:
2. The U.S. finally got so embarrassed by the Kurds’ heroic defense that it had to get serious.
The US and its joke of a “coalition” began bombing Syrian targets on September 22, 2014. But none of the first wave of strikes came near Kobane. The strikes hit Raqqah, Deir-az-Zour, Hassakah, and Aleppo—but not Kobane. And for two weeks, as IS threw all its Iraqi reinforcements and armor at the town, the US made only token strikes around Kobane. It was very odd, reading the stories at the time, because if there’s one thing the US does well, it’s air strikes on open desert terrain. I’m not one of those naïve believers in air support as the answer to all military problems, but FFS, this wasn’t the NVA in the Central Highlands, this was IS in Syria. They train on country that looks like this and facing a ground force that was too stupid to retreat under pressure, the USAF should have been able to wipe out the IS forces attacking Kobane.
But the kind of strikes they were using didn’t make any sense, just like their refusal to use air-drops for resupply didn’t make sense. Instead of A-10s and Predator drones orbiting the battle—the obvious way to keep air power on-station as needed—the USAF was sending fighters in for the classic, and classically ineffective, run-and-gun routine.
The Kurds were puzzled. They accepted that they wouldn’t be resupplied; Kurds have learned the hard way not to expect the US to back them up when it matters. But they did assume—naively enough—that the air strikes were supposed to be stopping IS. And they weren’t.
If you consider the possibility that the US wasn’t trying to stop IS, at least not until domestic pressure built up on Obama after the first week of October 2014, then this makes a cold sort of imperial sense. The goal wasn’t to stop IS from taking Kobane. In fact, IS was supposed to take it; that would make the Turks happy, and the resulting horror pictures of the massacre that would ensue would shut up any domestic opposition to bombing the Hell out of Iraq, the theater the US really worries about. The strikes were meant as a show of fake good will, so to speak—kinetic good will that would send a lot of desert flying into the air without dislodging IS, and bleed IS a little in the process.
That changed after October 7. For whatever reason, the strikes got serious, as you’ll see if you look at the graph at the end of this BBC story.
In the ten days since then, air support seems to have been effective. So, you might reasonably ask, what happened on October 7? Well, that happens to be the day that Leon Panetta, Obama’s own ex-Secretary of Defense and CIA head, went public calling the President a wimp who needed to put the proverbial boots on the literal ground in Syria.
Next day, suddenly USAF air strikes started lighting up the idiots marking their positions around Kobane with that familiar black IS flag. Probably not pure coincidence. DC people have thick hides when dealing with jibes from pundits or opposition senators, but when your own SecDef/CIA boss calls you out for ducking the enemy, you have to tell the USAF to start actually hitting people. Which it did, and because IS is too stupid to retreat quickly as the NVA would have done in this situation, they’ve been getting wonderfully zapped for more than a week.
Which was apparently enough even for these “fuckin’ amateurs,” to use Walter Sobchak’s crude but accurate characterization. They’re leaving the trenches around Kobane, which will be hard to spin as a victory even for IS, which is good at online agitprop (and nothing else).
So, when you stand back and squint at this whole amazing story, you’re left with a third, final, biggest reason Kobane didn’t fall:
3. Because the YPG/J wouldn’t let it.
If you only read one story about what happened in Kobane, read this battle-journal kept by Heysam Mislim, a Kurdish journalist who decided to stay in the town through the siege.
What he describes is just plain heroic, and it tallies with what I saw of the phlegmatic, stoic Kurdish people in Suli. They don’t make much of a fuss about things, which is unusual in this part of the world, which could be called “The Yelling Crescent.” They don’t yell, the Kurds–but they don’t panic, either. And they held on, expecting very little from their ostensible allies—and they weren’t disappointed in that expectation, either—and waiting until the ammunition ran out, or IS brought in another batch of Chechens, Tunisians, or Iraqis too numerous to be stopped. They knew very well what would become of them when that happened. But as often happens when a force like IS cultivates a rep for insane brutality, that meant that negotiation and surrender was impossible anyway. No one was gonna be spared. There was no choice. They just fought on.
And for all sorts of tangential reasons, from DC politics to jihadist incompetence, they won. It’s the kind of story that keeps me writing war stories. War is horrible, boring and mean and stupid; it’s that woman’s head, carried by an IS goblin grinning like an idiot. But sometimes—very rarely, actually—people who’ve been pushed into war against their will come out of it as something more than the rest of us. Kobane was just another dusty town when Syria blew up a few years ago. No one in Kobane was strutting around trying to be a hero, which is more than you can say about the Ali-Jihadis in IS. All the Kurds of Kobane were trying to do was keep their town alive. And, to everyone’s surprise—and most of the big players’ annoyance—they succeeded. It’s the rarest thing in the world, a truly heroic story. But that’s what this is, and you can’t do much but be awed by it.
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Skeet!!
From Central Command.. 16 Oct... (pssst they forgot per Gen Allen, it was for humanitarian needs and not to directly fight ISIS... that or they no longer give a rip what Turkey thinks about it all)...
TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 16, 2014 - U.S. military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria Wednesday and today, using bomber and fighter aircraft to conduct 14 airstrikes.
All 14 airstrikes took place near Kobani. Initial reports indicate the strikes successfully struck 19 ISIL buildings, two ISIL command posts, three ISIL fighting positions, three ISIL sniper positions, one ISIL staging location, and one ISIL heavy machine gun.
To conduct these strikes, the U.S. employed U.S. bomber and fighter aircraft deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of operations. All aircraft departed the strike areas safely.
These airstrikes are designed to interdict ISIL reinforcements and resupply and prevent ISIL from massing combat power on the Kurdish held portions of Kobani. Indications are that airstrikes have continued to slow ISIL advances, but that the security situation on the ground in Kobani remains tenuous. U.S. Central Command continues to closely monitor the situation.
The U.S. strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the terrorist group ISIL and the threat they pose to Iraq, the region and the wider international community. The destruction and degradation of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to lead, control, project power and conduct operations.
PGY holds Kobane, though the fighting in that area remains intense.....
In other news... despite photographic and video evidence that Turkey is just as guilty in contributing to the growth and well-being of ISIS.... The UST (treasury) imposed sanctions against Assad yesterday:
And here is the most recent Map of ISIS Vs Syria activities
Meanwhile, Turkey a NATO partner, continues its stance in not fighting ISIS and fighting Kurds wanting to go help Kobane instead....
Syrian defenders of the mainly Kurdish border town of Kobani say an increase in coalition airstrikes — and better coordination with the air support — have helped them hold off the more heavily armed fighters from the so-called Islamic State.
Each day, cars and vans carrying Kobani residents, Turkish Kurds and journalists climb over the rock-strewn paths on the edge of plowed fields, avoiding Turkish military roadblocks to reach the hills overlooking the Syrian border and the town of Kobani.
With only a few units from the Free Syrian Army joining Kobani's Kurdish defenders on the ground, Syrian Kurds say Turkey should open a corridor and let fighters and weapons in. Instead, they say, Turkish authorities are detaining young Kurdish men on suspicion of terrorism.
Mustafa Ali has a relative among the fighters still in Kobani. The 38-year-old Ali came to Turkey about a week ago, after being stuck for three days at the border while ISIS shells landed not far away. He doesn't think Turkey will overcome its suspicion of all Kurds and intervene to save Kobani — unless it gets a push from outside.
"If the international community forces Turkey to support Kobani, it will," Ali says. "But without pressure from the Americans and the Europeans they won't, because Turkey thinks both sides in this fight are terrorists."
Lefteris Pitarakis/APKurds sit in formation to form the initials of the People's Protection Unit, or YPG, the main Kurdish militia in Syria, on a hilltop overlooking Kobani just over the border, in support of Syrian Kurds fighting ISIS, on Wednesday. Turkey believes the People's Protection Unit have ties to a Kurdish group in Turkey that is the Turkish government considers a terrorist organization.
Turkish Suspicion
Adding to the pain of watching their town be destroyed a little more each day is the clear knowledge that those fleeing Kobani aren't welcome in Turkey. Ali says that Kurdish men, especially younger ones, routinely are stopped at the border, and that many then are taken by Turkish authorities to detention centers, where they're not charged with anything but are investigated on suspicion of terrorism.
"I know some of the guys who have been detained. They are political guys from Kobani, members of various Kurdish political parties, and the Turks caught them and held them," Ali says. "I was told there were as many as 200 of them, but some chose to go back to Syria."
In one of the newest refugee camps for Kobani residents to spring up, in the border town of Suruc, Turkish hosts are digging trenches between the neat rows of family-sized gray tents to lay electric cables. Kobani families appreciate the shelter they've been given, but 34-year-old Mohammed Sheikh al-Muslim says the way the Turks are treating the detained Kurdish men is unjust.
He calls one of them, Walid Yasser, 25, who says he was detained 11 days ago.
"They gave us three choices — Jazeera, Qameshli or Afrin," he says, meaning they could pick one of three Kurdish enclaves in northern Syria to which they would be returned.
Yasser says it's because the Turks think they're with the People's Protection Units, the Syrian Kurds linked to Turkey's own Kurdish militants, known as the PKK. He says he has nothing to do with any of that, but the Turks don't believe him.
On the hill overlooking the border, Kurdish men who fled Kobani have arranged themselves in columns and chant support for the defenders of their town.They say they're ready to fight ISIS with stones, if necessary, but while the display may look impressive on television, these men know that they won't be crossing any borders tonight — and that they'll have to come back again the next day to watch their homes take another pounding.
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Yo Thug a licious.... You are so GQ I don't know why you even bother with the make-up..... but Happy Thuggie Day....
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Kobani Incoming Recent Breaking News Updates
in Politics, 2nd Amendment (Gun Control)
Posted
This woman was killed today....the day after this interview (yesterday), for reporting on ME news broadcast station, the relationship between the Turkey-ISIS team. She provided the world with documented photos and film of their relationship....and its impact on the Battle of Kobane.... ISIS continues to reinforce their troops through Turkey and continues to shell Kobane as of today... And its doubtful anything will happen in seeking Turkish Intelligence accountability for her death... I salute her as a hero in bringing us the truth, at the expense of her own life, in this brutal, vicious, murderous relationship between Turkey and ISIS team....