“To give the Islamic State a free hand is to allow proponents of the caliphate to exploit the instability that U.S. efforts … have fostered. But to make Syria the latest free-fire zone in America’s never-ending Middle East misadventure will almost surely prolong and exacerbate the agonies that country is experiencing”:
- Even if We Defeat the Islamic State, We’ll Still Lose the Bigger War (Washington Post)
“I am obviously pretty scared to die but the hardest part is not knowing, wondering, hoping, and wondering if I should even hope at all. If I do die, I figure that at least you and I can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that I went out as a result of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need” –Â Abdul-Rahman Kassig:
Stories of Iraqis murdered and tortured not by IS but by “fighters under the control of the former, western-backed prime minister Nouri al-Maliki” are unreported because “[n]o white westerners were forced to recite chilling messages in professionally made videos before being murdered, so no horror is expressed by western politicians”:
“[I]n a country where soccer is deeply entwined with a polarized political landscape, and with the government facing allegations of creeping authoritarianism, the so-called ‘Passolig’ system is being viewed by many fans as an attempt at covert surveillance and clamping down on dissent”:
- Is Turkey Targeting Soccer Hooligans or Collecting Names? Fans Are Suspicious (Christian Science Monitor / Alaska Dispatch News)
“The actor reacted furiously to claims by Maher that Islam manifested as ‘the only religion that acts like the mafia’” and to Sam Harris’s insistence that any charge that “criticism of the religion gets conflated with bigotry towards Muslims as people [is] intellectually ridiculous”:
“[M]uch of the contemporary scholarly discourses surrounding the Muslim Brotherhood, whether it concerns analyses of its charitable associations and social welfare projects or its performance in state elections, stems from developments for which this generation [of young student activists] was responsible”:
“[A]dministration officials … have found that security rules put in place to defend America from a terror attack have played a role in alienating young Muslim men and women — the exact group being courted by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL”:
“The White House confirmed the call to the UAE, a day after Mr Biden offered a similar apology to Turkey”:
Reports “say more than 45 fighters on both sides were killed Sunday near the town of Kobani. The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said Monday that one of the attacks against Islamic State fighters was carried by a female Kurdish fighter who blew herself up, killing” ten IS fighters:
- Kurds Repel Jihadist Attack on Syrian Town (AP / abc News)
“The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says Iran has around 35 imprisoned journalists and is in the top three countries for jailing reporters”:
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