A report before the House Homeland Security Commission says that a estimates show over 20,000 foreign fighters sympathetic to ISIS have gone to the middle east to join the group or attempt to join them.
Nick Rasmussen, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center said that fighters are joining at a rate never seen in previous conflicts of similar nature like Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Supporters from 80 countries are believed to be in Syria.
The report says that approximately 150 Americans have attempted to travel to the war zone to join ISIS. Officials say that while some have been caught, a majority were able to make it to ISIS territory.
The new estimate is double the previous and experts say it could top 30,000 in the next few months.
“This new total reflects an increase in members because of stronger recruitment since June following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate, greater battlefield activity and additional intelligence,” an unidentified CIA official told CNN this week.
The chairman of the Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, said the report brings him serious concerns.
“I am worried about our ability to combat this threat abroad, but also here at home,” he said. “I wrote to the president recently as part of my ongoing investigation and raised concerns that we have no lead agency in charge of countering domestic radicalization and no line item for it in the budgets of key departments and agencies. I am also concerned that the few programs we do have in place are far too small to confront a challenge that has grown so quickly.”
A report from a former vice chief of staff for the Army regarding ISIS that was mostly negative had one bright spot from a military standpoint: the top chemical weapons expert for the terror group was killed in an airstrike.
Retired General Jack Keane told new members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that Abu Malik was killed last Saturday in an airstrike near Mosul. Malik was a chemical weapons engineer for Saddam Hussein who joined al-Qaeda and then ISIS after the fall of Saddam.
“His death is expected to temporarily degrade and disrupt the terrorist network and diminish ISIL’s ability to potentially produce and use chemical weapons against innocent people,” US Central Command said in a statement.
But the news was tempered by Gen. Keane’s view that ISIS has begun to “dominate” in multiple countries.
“After U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq in 2011, ISIS emerged as a terrorist organization in Iraq, moved into Syria in 2012. Is it possible to look at that map in front of you and claim that the United States policy and strategy is working? Or that al-Qaeda is on the run? It is unmistakable that our policies have failed,” Gen. Keane said.
“In my view, we became paralyzed by the fear of adverse consequences in the Middle East after fighting two wars,” he added. “Moreover, as we sit here this morning, in the face of radical Islam, U.S. policymakers refuse to accurately name the movement as radical Islam. We further choose not to define it, nor explain its ideology, and most critical, we have no comprehensive strategy to stop it or defeat it.”
A man who was seen as a major stabilizing figure in the turbulent Middle East is dead at the age of 90.
Saudi King Abdullah died early Friday after what palace sources called “a short illness.” Abdullah had ruled Saudi Arabia since 2005 after the death of King Fahd.
Many residents of the nation saw Abdullah as a reformer. He allowed women the right to vote and to compete in the Olympics. He maintained close relationships with the United States and Britain, buying most of the nation’s defense equipment from the two nations.
He also made domestic violence against women a crime for the first time in the nation’s history.
He was also a major opponent to Islamic terrorism and called it not only a threat to the region but also to Islam. He launched education programs that were aimed at stopping Al-Qaeda from gaining a foothold with youth. He also took actions to keep the most extreme parts of Saudi Arabia’s religious establishment from being able to spread their message in the nation.
King Abdullah was found through diplomatic messages published by Wikileaks to have asked the United States to implant microchips on all terrorists at Guantanamo Bay to allow world governments to track their movements. He also privately urged the U.S. to attack Iran to destroy their nuclear program.
Former Crown Prince Salman became King. He appointed officials to new roles within hours of the death of King Abdullah, unusual in the Saudi succession pattern, which usually took months. Reportedly King Salman wanted to “show strength to Islamic extremists” that “Saudi Arabia is united.”
HarperCollins is on the defensive after the discovery they were selling an atlas of the Middle East that did not include Israel.
The Tablet, an international publication of the Catholic Church, discovered the atlas eliminating Israel. The atlas was sold to English speaking schools in Muslim-majority countries in the Persian Gulf.
HarperCollins recalled the atlas after the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said they were harming the peace process.
“HarperCollins regrets the omission of the name Israel from their Collins Middle East Atlas. This product has now been removed from sale in all territories and all remaining stock will be pulped. HarperCollins sincerely apologizes for this omission and for any offence caused,” HarperCollins posted on their website.
“The publication of this atlas will confirm Israel’s belief that there exists a hostility towards their country from parts of the Arab world. It will not help to build up a spirit of trust leading to peaceful co-existence,” Bishop Declan Lang told The Tablet.
“Maps can be a very powerful tool in terms of de-legitimising ‘the other’ and can lead to confusion rather than clarity. We would be keen to see relevant bodies ensure that all atlases anywhere reflect the official UN position on nations, boundaries and all political features,” added Dr. Jane Clements, director of the Council of Christians and Jews.
ISIS is now the world’s biggest user of children as forces for their terrorist army.
ISIS calls the children forced into fighting “cubs of the Islamic State” and see them as key to taking over the Middle East. They believe that using social media to promote the use of child fighters is a way to gain more young teens into the extremist groups.
ISIS is taking the children to special “indoctrination camps” where they are forced to convert to Islam, learn the details of the ISIS brand of Islam and then be trained on weapons and war tactics.
The children are also forced to attend executions and torture of people who violate ISIS version of Sharia Law.
ISIS recently sent on social media pictures of two children they described as “martyrs” for the cause after they were killed in U.S. airstrikes on ISIS bases. One of the children, identified as Abu Ubaida, was described as the “youngest fighter in Islamic State.”
They also shared videos of children re-enacting the beheading of American journalist James Foley and changing “Allahu Akbar” while carrying about the “head” of their fake Foley.
The UK is going to seize the passports of any citizen who joined jihadists in the Middle East to prevent them from returning home.
Prime Minister David Cameron outlined the government’s new regulations to seize regulations that would include landing bans on airlines that fail to comply with no-fly lists.
UK intelligence officials say that at least 500 radicalized Britons are fighting in Iraq and Syria.
“We will shortly be introducing our own new Counter-Terrorism Bill in the UK,” Cameron said. “New powers for police at ports to seize passports, to stop suspects traveling and to stop British nationals returning to the UK unless they do so on our terms. New rules to prevent airlines that don’t comply with our no-fly lists or security screening measures from landing in the UK.”
Leaks to British media say the new rules could include admission back into the country if they agree to face charges related to their jihadist actions or de-radicalization courses.
“The root cause of the challenge we face is the extremist narrative. So we must confront this extremism in all its forms,” Cameron said. “We must ban extremist preachers from our countries. We must root out extremism from our schools, universities and prisons.”
Australia’s government has announced plans to keep radical Islamist preachers from entering their nation.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was ordering the moves because of rising tensions in the nation following a series of raids in the Muslim community of men who are directly connected to ISIS and other Islamic terrorist organizations.
“What we want to do is to ensure that known preachers of hate do not come to this country to peddle their divisive extremist message,” Abbott during a press conference in Sydney. “What I’m doing is declaring that we will henceforth have a new system in place which will ensure that preachers of hate can’t come to Australia to peddle their extreme, divisive and alien ideologies.”
Australia says at least 160 citizens have gone to the Middle East to work for ISIS and 20 have returned to the country and are under surveillance.
Australian Muslims claim they are being unfairly targeted in not allowing preachers of their own choosing form entering the country.
The terrorist group ISIS has announced they are releasing a video game similar to Grand Theft Auto in an attempt to recruit western children into their organization.
The media wing of the group says the game will “raise the morale of the mujahedin and to train children and youth how to battle the West and to strike terror into the hearts of those who oppose the Islamic State.”
The trailer for the game shows images of ISIS terrorists attacking various groups and chanting praise when they kill their target. In one instance, an ISIS sniper kills his target and yells “Allahu Akbar” after the kill.
A video smuggled out of a mosque in the Gaza strip shows a Muslim sheikh wielding a rifle and calling for violence against Israel as the only way to establish a Palestinian state.
Sheikh Lyad Abu Funun is shown in the video released by Middle East Media Research Institute. In the speech, he declares that Israel did not succeed on any level during the 50-day war for disarming Hamas terrorists.
“The Israelis came to conquer the Gaza Strip. Did they succeed in doing so? No, they did not. They came to take these weapons away from us,” Funun yells. “Do I still hold this weapon or not? They came to take these weapons away from us. Did they succeed?”
Those attending the event chanted “Allah Akbar” while the sheikh gave his rant.
The video also shows another part of the sermon where Funan says the weapons are the only way.
“This war has proven that these weapons are our only means to liberate our land,” Funan said. “These weapons are our only means to liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque. These weapons are our only means to establish the Islamic state. These weapons are our only means to reestablish Muhammad’s caliphate. These weapons are our only means to instate the law of Allah.”
A Senator speaking at an event that was alleged to be a gathering of Middle East Christians and their supporters left the stage after being booed for his support of Israel.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz was on the list of speakers for the inaugural “In Defense of Christians” event in Washington, D.C. Cruz was scheduled to speak to the crowd on Wednesday night as part of a series of speakers discussing the need for unity to stand against Islamic terrorism in the region.
However, Cruz was met with boos and harassment when he mentioned Israel.
“Christians have no greater ally than Israel,” Cruz said in his keynote address. Immediately, many Middle Eastern representatives in the crowd started yelling derogatory statements about Cruz and Israel.
“If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews,” Cruz said before leaving the podium, “I will not stand with you.”
The organization behind the event released a statement saying those in attendance who disrupted Cruz did not adhere to the principles of the organization.
“Tonight’s injection of politics when the focus should have been on unity and faith, momentarily played into the hands of a few who do not adhere to IDC’s principles,” stated In Defense of Christians President Toufic Baaklini. “Tonight’s events make clearer than ever, that In Defense of Christians is desperately needed in a world that remains divided to the point where even the most fundamental value of life and human dignity are cast aside.”
