News and Analysis (8/13/14)

The secretary of State John Kerry told the reporters during a visit to Australia that the US “will explore more “political, economic and security options,  “but will not send combat troops to Iraq again”…

• John Kerry Insists Any US Moves in Iraq Will Not Involve Combat Troops (The Guardian)

… while “US air strikes continued on Tuesday, with a drone targeting an IS mortar near Kurdish troops…Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped by militants” …

• Thousands of Yazidis ‘Still Trapped’ on Iraq Mountain (BBC)

… but the current airstrikes are described to be “minimal and fleeting impact on the forces of the Islamic State” …

• US Air Strikes in Iraq Will Have Minimal Impact on Isis – Pentagon (The Guardian)

… and RAF jets are leaving for Iraq, “and will carry out surveillance ahead of further airdrops to refugees”:

• RAF Tornado Jets Leave UK for Iraq Aid Mission (BBC)

The program targeted by the suit “casts a net so wide that it brands innocent, law-abiding residents, like Plaintiffs — none of whom pose a security threat — as ‘national security concerns’ on account of innocuous activity and associations, and characteristics such as national origin”:

• Secret Blacklist Stopping Muslim Residents from Becoming Citizens, Lawsuit Claims (AP / abc News)

“The statement highlighted the fact that the campaign being waged against religious minorities by the Islamic State (Isis) threatens to provoke the biggest crisis in Catholic-Muslim relations since 2006” …

• Vatican Calls on Muslim Leaders to Condemn Christian Persecution in Iraq (The Guardian)

… but supporters of ISIS were seen “canvassing around the busy shopping area of Oxford Circus”:

• Islamic State Supporters Hand Out Leaflets in Central London Promising ‘Dawn of a New Era’ (Newsweek)

Britain’s support of Israel “is seen as complicit in Israel’s oppression of Palestinians”, drove thousands to protest Britain’s foreign policy:

• Why British People Are Protesting About Gaza, Not Iraq (The Guardian)

A “188-page report, the rights group … called the crushing of the main protester sit-in at Cairo’s Rabaah el-Adawiya Square on Aug. 14, 2013, the ‘world’s largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history’”:

• Human Rights Watch Says Dispersal of Last Year’s Egypt Sit-ins Could Be Crime Against Humanity (AP / US News and World Report)

Gazans want to fight against the Israeli siege, but increasingly see the ineffective rocket strikes as counter-productive:

• As War with Israel Shatters Lives, More Gazans Question Hamas Decisions (Washington Post)

“Maliki’s growing isolation raised hopes of a relatively smooth transfer of power after a tense two-day standoff during which the desperate incumbent deployed security forces to strategic points across the capital”:

• Iran Endorses Haider al-Abadi as Iraq’s New Prime Minister, Spurning Nouri al-Maliki (Washington Post)

“Uighurs have long accused the Chinese government of trying to stamp out their cultural and religious practices, and … banning so-called ‘five abnormal appearances,’ which include headscarves and clothes with Muslim emblems like crescent moons, is just another example, they say”:

• A Chinese City Plans to Ban Muslim Clothing — to Fight Terrorism (PRI)

As Dean Obeidallah puts it, more Muslims have been persecuted by the terrorist groups than non- Muslims minorities since the rise of terrorism:

• Why Muslims Hate Terrorism More (The Daily Beast)
• CAIR Reiterates Condemnation of ISIS Violence, Religious Extremism (American Muslim)

Hanan Hameed