No Place To Hide: A Brain Surgeon #39;s Long Journey Home from the Iraq War
http://bit.ly/NoPlaceToHideBook No Place to Hide is a compelling war narrative by brain surgeon W. Lee Warren. He operated on soldiers, civilians, and terrorists alike under continual mortar...
By: Literary Record
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No Place To Hide: A Brain Surgeon's Long Journey Home from the Iraq War - Video
Uncut Chronicles: Kobani. Kurds vs ISIS (SEPT OCT 2014)
Fighting continued in Syria and Iraq, where Islamic State militants have seized large areas through their offensive. The Syrian town of Kobani, located near . Fighting continued in Syria...
By: Jimmie Garrett
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Uncut Chronicles: Kobani. Kurds vs ISIS (SEPT OCT 2014) - Video
Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes have gained ground against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq, potentially clearing an escape route for persecuted minorities remaining on and near Mt. Sinjar.
The offensive, begun this week, paired the aerial assault with thousands of Kurdish peshmerga fighters in what Kurdish officials called the largest attack so far in the fight against the militants, also known as ISIS.
ISIS elements are starting to flee and leave the area; their morale is very low, Masrour Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan regional governments security council, said in a statement late Thursday. He called it the biggest military operation so far conducted against ISIS the biggest victory of the peshmerga in this war.
Islamic States August siege of Mt. Sinjar drew international attention and eventually prompted President Obama to approve the campaign of airstrikes -- nearly 1,400 to date -- after thousands of members of the local Yazidi minority community were trapped. Many were subsequently able to flee the area, though others remain.
Humanitarian aid flowed into the area and Yazidis fled into the Kurdish region and neighboring Syria, where they were later pushed out again by fighting.
This is a war that the peshmerga are fighting on behalf of the rest of the world, Barzani said, adding that Kurdish fighters proved that protecting innocent lives, the principles and values of democracy and respect for other religions is much more important than the destruction and killing machines that ISIS has brought to this country.
Rear Adm. John F. Kirby of the U.S. Navy confirmed reports that the airstrike campaign, dubbed Operation Inherent Resolve, had killed several Islamic State leaders, although he would not identify them or their rank within the extremist group, except to say that their deaths damaged the groups command structure.
Combined efforts like these are having a significant effect on Daeshs ability to command and control, to resupply, and to conduct maneuvering, Kirby said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
The 53 airstrikes at Sinjar destroyed Islamic State buildings, bridges, guard towers and vehicles, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. James L. Terry, the Kuwait-based commander of the campaign, said Thursday.
Fifteen more airstrikes followed Friday four in Syria and 11 in Iraq, including near Mt. Sinjar and to the east in Tal Afar, striking Islamic State units at both locations, according to a statement from the U.S. military.
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Kurdish fighters in Iraq make headway in battle against Islamic State
TIME World Libya Egyptian Involvement Sparked Libya Oil Port Battle, Expert Says General view of the industrial zone at the oil port of Ras Lanuf on March 11, 2014. Esam Al-FetoriReuters Islamists suspected Libya's government in Tobruk was receiving reinforcements from Egypt
An ongoing battle for two of Libyas key oil ports began last weekend because Islamist-leaning militias feared Egypt planned to reinforce the Libyan elected government based in the eastern city of Tobruk, according to a Tripoli-based analyst.
The fighting that has closed the oil terminals at Ras Lanuf and Sidra underscores how fears of Egyptian meddling in Libya is leading to an escalation of the countrys armed conflict. They had information or belief that the Tobruk side was being reinforced in its military capacities, says Claudia Gazzini, senior Libya analyst based in Tripoli with International Crisis Group. The more evidence there is of Egyptian involvement, the greater the risk the opposing side might make abrupt strategy choices, like the one we saw over the weekend.
Libyas internationally-recognized government in Tobruk is locked in armed conflict with a rival government run by the Islamist-leaning Libya Dawn movement, based in Tripoli. The Tobruk government is allied with Khalifa Heftar, a general who declared war earlier this year against Libya Dawn. Heftars campaign, dubbed Operation Dignity, has triggered some of the deadliest fighting since the 2011 armed uprising that overthrew the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
Egypt is concerned about instability from Libya spilling over into its territory. Egypt shares a long desert border with Libya that has been used to smuggle weapons, particularly since the 2011 uprising. More broadly, the Egyptian government led by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, who led the militarys 2013 overthrow of Egypts elected Islamist government, regards the Tobruk government as one ally in what they see as a regional struggle against political Islam in which policy is guided primarily by religious rather than practical considerations.
They want to reshape Libyas political landscape where the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islamists dont have a powerful role, says Frederic Wehrey, a senior associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington D.C. The larger fear of having a country next door or where the Brotherhood is dominant is a real political concern for them.
Though Egyptian officials deny direct military involvement, Egypt has taken a number of steps to aid the Tobruk side. In August, U.S. officials confirmed that Egypt allowed its airbases to be used in surprise airstrikes by the United Arab Emirates on targets in Libya. In November, Egypt sent special forces on two raids inside Libya, according to Western officials quoted by the New York Times.
In addition, forces allied to the Tobruk government have received weapons from Egypt. Gazzini says that in October she observed an Egyptian ship unloading in Tobruk port and that officials there confirmed that the ship delivered light arms.
In interviews in Cairo, Egyptian officials acknowledge that Egypt shares intelligence with the Tobruk authorities, but deny direct military operations. Our position on the crisis in Libya is clear: to provide information, expertise and training, says Hossam Khairallah, a former general in Egypts intelligence service. But the conditions do not permit or favor intervention in Libya.
Libya is just one arena where Egypt joins the wealthy Gulf monarchies of the UAE and Saudi Arabia in what Egyptian officials see as a regional power struggle with the forces of political Islam. Opposing them are other states, including Qatar and Turkey who are regarded as more sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups. The rivals also back competing rebel groups in Syria, as well as rival factions in Lebanon and in Palestinian politics.
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Egyptian Involvement Sparked Libya Oil Port Battle, Expert Says
Democracy Constitutionalism in Comparative Indian Perspective
By: Cec Ugc
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Democracy & Constitutionalism in Comparative & Indian Perspective - Video