icantfindaname posted:

I've unfortunately seen one beheading video with the same pattern and the blood didn't start spurting everywhere immediately. The tiny knife they use doesn't get to the jugular that fast I don't think

euphronius posted:

Someone wants the USA to commit to Iraq again I guess it doesn't matter who exactly it is.

icantfindaname posted:

As for this, 'getting to them' is meaningless as the US has figured out over the past 15 years. In order for peace to exist you need a stable government, bombing people doesn't do that, in fact is actively hinders it because some sociopath will inevitably pop up in the power vacuum. Just like Saddam is now looking pretty good compared to ISIS it's possible that in 5 or 10 years people even worse than ISIS will crop up, even after you've killed enough people that they finally stop using the ISIS name. The most realistic way out of this really is to just split Iraq into three countries and be done with it.

Torpor posted:

I was going to look at other beheading videos to see if it is consistent. That guy was sawing away at that neck and basically nothing was happening before it faded to black. I was kind of thinking that perhaps up to that point every one of those scenes had taken place multiple times, including a fake beheading, and they just pieced that all together and they actually took the head off on some other occasion. I dunno, the video all seems so absurd, it would be a black comedy if it weren't real.

My Imaginary GF posted:

Please explain how a group worse than ISIS would act.

quote:

We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people.

We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world.

We thank Jim for all the joy he gave us. He was an extraordinary son, brother, journalist and person. Please respect our privacy in the days ahead as we mourn and cherish Jim.

Mans posted:

i wish the entire zone was glassed.

quote:

After 162 days with no information about his whereabouts, GlobalPost announced Friday that James Foley, an American journalist who went missing on November 22 in Syria, is almost certainly being held by the Syrian government in a detention center near the capital city of Damascus. Surrounded by Foley’s family during a speech in Boston marking World Press Freedom Day, GlobalPost CEO and President Philip Balboni said:

With a very high degree of confidence, we now believe that Jim was most likely abducted by a pro-regime militia group commonly referred to as the Shabiha and subsequently turned over to Syrian government forces. We have obtained multiple independent reports from very credible confidential sources who have both indirect and direct access that confirm our assessment that Jim is now being held by the Syrian government in a detention facility in the Damascus area. We further believe that this facility is under the control of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence service. Based on what we have learned, it is likely Jim is being held with one or more Western journalists, including most likely at least one other American.

Withnail posted:

I was thinking about a game of thrones metaphor, but there isn't one. ISIS is still worse.

ReindeerF posted:

I imagine The Daily Mail is having a field day with all this ISIS returnee stuff. I assume Melanie Phillips is inking her quill for Londonisistan already.

Libluini posted:

Good news, even Germany is now prepared to send weapons to help out the Kurds. Gratulation, ISIS, somehow you made Germany overturn a sentiment which has existed since the foundation of the republic: Not to send weapons into active war zones.

botany posted:

Germany is one of the leading arms exporters of the world. The fact that the populace is consistently opposed to arms exports has never mattered in the slightest.

icantfindaname posted:

I've unfortunately seen one beheading video with the same pattern and the blood didn't start spurting everywhere immediately. The tiny knife they use doesn't get to the jugular that fast I don't think

Libluini posted:

As someone living in Germany and watching the news, I know this already. But Germany has taken pains to never send weapons into active war zones. Until now. ISIS changed this, thanks to being total asshats.

Edit:

We're talking here about Germany officially sending weapons and ammunition to help the Kurds, by the way. Not about simply selling them our weapons. Also we're already sending other military rubbish like out-of-date vests, weapons is the next step up from this now.

Brown Moses posted:

botany posted:

That's nonsense, Germany has no problem sending arms into Afghanistan, Israel, the Kosovo region etc. Then you have German assault rifles showing up in Libya, and exports into countries that, though not active war zones, are in various states of civil war, brutal suppression of uprisings, or uneasy truces liable to fall apart at any given time (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Korea etc). If ISIS changes anything it's probably that in this case, I don't see many voters having a problem with the exports.

Gregor Samsa posted:

Given the way the Syrian revolution seems to be going, I have to think that putting up this picture (and the others like it that I've seen) puts these guys in line for an extremely unpleasant end.

Libluini posted:

According to us, neither Afghanistan, nor Israel or the Kosovo, are active war zones right now. If you disagree, I suggest writing a stern letter to our government explaining your viewpoint.

Anidav posted:

Given he was captured by Pro-regime milita, Syria making backroom deals with ISIS isn't out of the question? Bought as slaves or something, maybe? How strange.

door Door door posted:

Maybe he was captured when ISIS took whatever military base he was held at? A prisoner swap or other exchange deal between ISIS and the regime seems pretty out of character.

Xandu posted:

Do we know he was held in Damascus?

Would be curious to see the results of Global Post's investigation, but who knows if they'll release it.

botany posted:

Afghanistan was acknowledged to be a war after we killed around 100 civilians in 2009 and had to find a way to not hold the soldiers involved responsible, Israel's war with Lebanon in 2006 was called a war, the Kosovo conflict was called a war as well. During all of these wars we exported arms into the areas.

quote:

The Egyptian foreign ministry has said it is closely watching developments in the US city of Ferguson following clashes between security forces and protesters over the murder of African American teenager Mike Brown last week.
It has called on US authorities to exercise restraint and deal with the protests in accordance with US and international standards, foreign ministry spokesperson Ambassador Badr Abdel-Atti told state news agency MENA.

Abdel-Atti said Egypt was closely following reactions to the violence, including a statement by UN General Secretary Ban-Ki Moon, who demanded self-restraint and respect for the right to free assembly and expression.

The foreign ministry hopes investigations will reveal the truth about Mike Brown's murder, Abdel-Atti added.

biglads posted:

With the west ramping up funding and support for the Kurds, is there a belief in the West that Peshmerga will advance out of Kurdistan to confront ISIS or is it accepted that the funds & weapons are for 'defensive' purposes?

Obviously the Kurds aren't enamoured with ISIS, but somehow I can't see Kurdish forces occupying Sunni areas for any length of time.