MESOP IN DEPTH : The National Ideological Resistance in Syria: A ‘Syrian Hezbollah’ Brand
By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Hezbollah’s participation in the Syrian civil war in support of the Assad regime is well-known, most notably in the captures of Qusayr in Homs province in May 2013 and Yabroud in Damascus province in March 2014. Considerably less attention has been given though to the emergence of native brands, which, if not actually set up by Hezbollah, are nonetheless identical in ideology and messaging. “The National Ideological Resistance in Syria” (NIR. Arabic: al-muqawama al-wataniya al-’aqa’idiya fi Souria) is a case-in-point.
MESOP FACING KOBANE (ATTENTION)! – Islamic State fighting inside Kobane (Inside pics by IS)
12 Oct 2014 04:44 PM PDT – Long War Journal -A video released by an unofficial news organization affiliated with the Islamic State shows the group’s fighters in heavy street-to-street fighting inside Kobane. The video shows fighters breaking down walls leading into streets and the walls of houses, as well as firing on Kurdish positions.
MESOP REPORT : Kurds Abandoned by Liberals, NDP / READ LIVE REPORT FROM KOBANE
by Tarek Fatah – THE TORONT SUN –
Jenan Moussa is a reporter for the Arabic language TV network Akhbar AlAan out of Dubai. For the past 48 hours she has been witnessing the battle raging in the Kurdish town of Kobane, just south of Turkey’s border with Syria.
At 07:00 EST on Monday she tweeted, “ISIS did not manage to enter Kobane yet, Kurdish activist Mustafa Bali just told me over phone. He is still in #Kobane. @Akhbar”An hour later, she was the first to report: “I can confirm. I just saw an ISIS flag. It is flying on eastern edge of #Kobane. Will try to tweet a pic in a sec.”As fighting raged, news came of the desperate situation of the Kurds.
One female fighter reportedly charged the advancing ISIS jihadists, hurling grenades at them and then blew herself up in their midst. Another reportedly shot herself rather than be captured by ISIS when she ran out of ammunition.
Moussa’s tweets from one of her Kurdish contacts from inside Kobane conveyed the sense of betrayal the Kurds felt because of the lack of American help. She tweeted: “Kurdish guy from#Kobane tells me: We hoped American planes will help us. Instead American tanks in hands of ISIS are killing us.”
The betrayal of the Kurds was not just taking place on the ground in Syria.
Closer to home, many Kurdish Canadians felt abandoned by politicians.
Keyvan Soltany, a Kurdish exile and human rights activist, told me he felt both the Liberal party and the NDP were catering to the large “Muslim vote bank” in the cities, instead of uniting as one voice with Prime Minster Stephen Harper.
It was a surreal experience to follow the battle ground tweets by Moussa and listen to the NDP’s Thomas Mulcair and Paul Dewar read well-scripted rhetoric opposing military air strikes against ISIS.
Dewar had the audacity to ask Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird whether he had exhausted all alternative means of helping the victims of ISIS barbarism. He sounded as if he was debating the Haiti earthquake disaster, not the man-made catastrophe unfolding in front of our eyes across the world.
Both Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau should have been aware of the threat the Islamic State poses to Canada and our allies, be they America, Europe, India or Israel.
Later in the evening on CBC’s Power and Politics, I heard an exchange between host Evan Soloman and Trudeau’s defence adviser, retired Lt. Gen Andrew Leslie.
If this is the advice the Liberal leader is getting, then it is no surprise, he knows not what he says.
Here is the exchange:
LESLIE: “Probably the largest single threat to Canada is the ungoverned, those poor desperate people tucked up against the Turkish border, who if they get the sense of abandonment, and get frustrated and get panicky even more so than they are now, that will act as a fertile breeding ground for the next wave of fundamentalists, who may decide to do unpleasant things to those around them or to us … ”
SOLOMON: ” But Andrew Leslie, are you actually saying that the greatest threat to Canada is the refugees, not the terrorist group ISIS?”
LESLIE: “No, no, absolutely not.”
SOLOMON: “Because you said that is the potential bigger threat.”
LESLIE: “If left ungoverned, if left unhelped …”
SOLOMON: “It seems to me the people beheading might be the bigger threat.”
I dread the day Trudeau is prime minister and Leslie his defence minister.
Tarek S. Fatah is a founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, a columnist at Toronto Sun, host of a Sunday afternoon talk show on Toronto’s NewsTalk1010 AM Radio, and a fellow at the Middle East Forum. He is the author of two award-winning books: Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State and The Jew is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism.
MESOP FACING KOBANE : SITUATION REPORT TONIGHT / WATCH VIDEO
11-10-2014 – Fighting has intensified in Kobane, as Kurdish militiamen battle the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for control of the besieged Syrian town. ISIL have continued to make advances on Kobane despite US-led airstrikes against the group’s positions. But for many Kurds in neighbouring Turkey, anger has been been directed at the government for failing to help. Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker reports from the Turkey-Syrian border https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSHx5a-oN44
MESOP TODAY’S Opinion : Negotiation time: Why are U.S. & Turkey sparring over ISIS?
By Laura Koran, CNN October 9, 2014 — Updated 1931 GMT (0331 HKT)
Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama’s chief anti-ISIS coalition envoy, retired Gen. John Allen, arrived Thursday in Ankara, where it will be up to him to convince the Turkish government to take more decisive action against the terrorist group.
“The events of last week have made it clear that urgent and rapid steps are needed to halt [ISIS’] military capabilities,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “and Gen. Allen and [diplomat Brett] McGurk will make that clear in their meetings with Turkish officials.”
MESOP FUNNY KRAUTS : THE EXCORZISM OF DEMONS WITH DEMONS
“Germany is trying to convince Turkey and Iran to join the fight against Islamic State (IS) militants, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told a German newspaper.
In an interview with Berlin’s Tagesspiegel daily, Steinmeier said longstanding animosities in the Middle East needed to be set aside to ensure a united front against IS and he vowed to raise this with Saudi Arabia’s leadership when he visits the country on Sunday.
“We are trying to convince the Arab countries, Turkey and Iran that it is necessary to work together against IS,” he told the newspaper.” – Germany trying to convince Turkey, Iran to join fight against IS – International – World – Ahram Online
What Are The “Chechen Jamaats” In The Islamic State? / SYRIA – KOBANE by joanna paraszczuk
There has been a lot of media attention recently on the threat posed, specifically to Russia, by “Chechens” in the Islamic State. (I wrote about that here.) Here is some new information that I obtained recently from some sources close to Islamic State: http://www.rferl.org/content/islamic-state-chechen-fighters-putin/26630895.html
— About a week ago I noticed that some Russian speaking IS-associated individuals were using the term Abu Kamil Jamaat in connection with the offensive on Kobani, specifically regarding the units approaching from the south and then later with respect to deaths of jihadis inside Kobani.
— After doing some digging I learned that:
MESOP : CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT’S KOBANE SPECULATIONS
A Kurdish Alamo: Five Reasons the Battle for Kobane Matters
KATHERINE WILKENS – 11 Oct 2014 – In the last three weeks Kobane, a strategically located Kurdish enclave along the Syrian-Turkish border, has become a focal point of the international campaign against the Sunni extremist faction known as the Islamic State.
In Treue fest
von Thomas von der Osten-Sacken
“Kein Mensch der Welt übertrifft die Germanen an Treue.” (Tacitus)
Frau Christine Buchholz, Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages für die Partei “Die Linke”, bleibt auch in schwerer Stunde ihren Überzeugungen treu und lässt sich von Forderungen der GenossInnen vor Ort nicht verwirren.
So erklärte Idris Naasan, “Außenminister” des Kantons Kobani heute: Seit drei Tagen bombardiert die Koalition zum ersten Mal intensiv und effektiv. Die Angriffe sind so stark wie nie zuvor. Endlich wird das getan, was wir seit Beginn der IS-Offensive forderten. Die Kampfflugzeuge greifen Fahrzeuge und Stellungen vom IS auch untertags an.
Und the co-chair of PYD says Alliance airstrikes on strongholds of ISIS has saved the lives of countless civilians in Kobane.
Oder treibt sie die Sorge um’s Wohlergehen anderer Widerstandskämpfer gegen den Imperialismus an, die nur gerade leider an der ganz falschen Front kämpfen?
“Kämpfer in Afghanistan, die von der »westlichen Presse pauschal als ›Taliban‹ etikettiert« werden, haben ihr zufolge ein »Recht auf Widerstand«. Schließlich leiden nicht nur sie, sondern auch andere unterdrückte Völker, unter anderem im Irak und in Palästina, unter »der Besatzung«. Und diese Kräfte des »Widerstands« geben nach Ansicht von Buchholz gute Gesprächs- und Bündnispartner ab, besonders eine »antikoloniale Befreiungsbewegung« wie die Hezbollah.”
Auch andere Mitglieder der Linkspartei stecken ja gerade in so etwas wie einer Loyalitätsklemme, etwa Annette Groth, prominente Reisende auf dem Frauendeck der Mavi Marmari, die sich kürzlich zur Solidarität mit den Kurden von Kobani in die Türkei begab, just während auf der anderen Seite der Grenze Flugzeuge der anti-IS-Koalition einen ihrer ehemaligen Mitpassagiere ins Jenseits beförderten.
MESOP : Will Syrian Kurdistan’s Kobani fall to IS? 5 fast facts you need to know
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| 11- Oct – 2014 – This is a developing story. Well placed bloggers inside Syria and in contact directly with YPG and Kurdish commanders on the ground are reporting that ISIS has taken the HQ of the Kurdish fighters defending Kobani, a significant blow to their valiant efforts to save the city from falling into the ISIS caliphate. Updates made throughout October 10th have tracked the continuing situation in Kobani, which is fluid, with Kurds and ISIS fighting street by street, and reinforcements coming to both sides – more ISIS fighters from Raqqa and Free Syrian Army fighters through Turkey to support the YPG or Kurdish fighters. | |
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