Syria

ISIS destroys VII-century church, historical mosque in Iraq’s Tikrit

RT,

25 September, 2014

The Iraqi city of Tikrit saw ISIS blow up the Green Church, one of the oldest Christian churches in the Middle East, and the shrine and historical mosque of Al Arbain, both located in the city center, security sources said on Thursday.

On Wednesday evening, Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS) militants bombed the Green Church, built in the VII century. It belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East, a part of the Christian tradition, and was restored in 2000 by the Saddam Hussein regime.

READ MORE: 24 reasons ISIS are wrong: Muslim scholars blast Islamic State

The source told Iraqi News that “the militants of ISIS bombed the Green Church in the area of the presidential palaces, with improvised explosive devices that were planted in its surroundings.” The source added that “the bombing resulted in the destruction of the entire church.”

However, it was not the only religious monument that suffered on Thursday. In the morning Islamic State elements dynamited the shrine and historical mosque of Al Arbain – “with a number of improvised explosive devices.”

The religious site contained the tombs of 40 fighters from the early period of Islam’s expansion. And, although Islamic State promotes a return to Islamic roots, it believes worshipping graves to be close to idolatry.

Islamic State militants have blown up several churches, shrines and mosques that attract thousands of people annually across the country. In the provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh they destroyed tombs of the prophets Jonah, George and Daniel. In Mosul, Iraq's largest Christian town, ISIS has destroyed or occupied all 45 local Christian institutions. It has also caused thousands of Christians and religious minorities to flee from their homes.

The recently reported destruction of the church and the shrine occurred in spite of US-led air strikes against Islamic State positions in Syria that started on Tuesday. A series of strikes overnight by the coalition of five countries killed 14 ISIS militants and five civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday.

Pentagon denies civilian deaths in Syria bombing – so far

RT,

25 September, 2014

Citing its battle damage assessment “up until now,” the Pentagon has denied any civilian casualties as a result of airstrikes in Syria, saying that reports remain unconfirmed and videos posted on social media showing civilians underneath rubble are fake.

Earlier this week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that eight civilians, including three children, were killed in US-led airstrikes inside of Syria. Rebel forces, meanwhile, said 11 civilians were killed in Idlib and another five in Homs.

However, a Pentagon spokesman, Army Col. Steve Warren, said that although the military is still gathering intelligence on the situation, imagery taken from before and after the strikes – intended to hit Islamic State militants – showed that no civilians had been killed.

“We took all available mitigating actions to reduce civilian casualties," he said to the Los Angeles Times. "Right now we believe there were no civilian casualties.”

Warren was then asked if the videos seen in social media networks depicting civilians trapped under rubble were fake, to which he replied, “Yes.”

“We come to that statement by examining our battle damage assessment up until now,” he added.

READ MORE: Oil installations in Syria hit by anti-ISIS coalition

Fadel Abdul Ghany of the Syrian Network for Human Rights was not convinced by the Pentagon’s statements, though. He told the Times that he filed a report with the US State Department on the matter, but said that videos and photographs of the deaths were not available because the areas in question are controlled by the Islamic State.

Residents look at buildings which were damaged in what activists say was one of Tuesday's U.S. air strikes in Kfredrian, Idlib province September 24, 2014. (Reuters/Ammar Abdullah)

“It’s in the American’s interest to hide it,” he said. “The reality is there are civilians and there are fighters” among the dead.

While American officials deny that civilians have been killed, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that the US and its allies should take care to ensure that such casualties are limited, if not avoided entirely.

“I regret the loss of any civilian lives as a result of strikes against targets in Syria,” Ban said at a climate summit press conference in New York. “The parties involved in this campaign must abide by international humanitarian law and take all necessary precautions to avoid and minimize civilian casualties.”

The conflicting accounts over innocent deaths come as the United States and its partners continue to launch airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, hoping to beat back Islamic State militants who have spread through both countries. On Wednesday, the US was joined by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in attacks that targeted oil installations held by militants.

A still image captured from U.S. Navy video footage shows a Tomahawk Land-Attack Missile (TLAM) is launched against ISIL targets from the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea in the Gulf, September 23, 2014. (Reuters/Abe McNatt/U.S. Navy/Handout)

"These small-scale refineries provided fuel to run ISIL operations, money to finance their continued attacks throughout Iraq and Syria, and an economic asset to support their future operations,” read a US Central Command statement on the strikes. "Producing between 300-500 barrels of refined petroleum per day, ISIL is estimated to generate as much as $2 million per day from these refineries. The destruction and degradation of these targets further limits ISIL’s ability to lead, control, project power and conduct operations."

Before that, US-led attacks targeted training camps, headquarters and weapon supplies in northern and eastern Syria, though the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said residential buildings were also destroyed.

Insane Propaganda To Start Bombing Syria And New Zealand Will Join Too

by Travellerev

Aotearoa: a Wider Perspective,

26 September, 2014

The criminals in power are losing the plot now that more and more countries are rejecting the US dollar as the global currency and they want to take us to a hot war. The war has already begun and has been since 9/11 of course but this is about destroying another country in the middle East and has nothing to do with ISIS/ISIL no matter their spin. This is about Syria and its destruction. In fact last night they bombed Syria with a load usually reserved for a whole month worth of bombing.

The New Zealand MSM has joined in the chorus of warmongering News papers around the world in order to get us to partake in the craziness of the Psychopath class. I think it will take our war monger in chief about a week to announce New Zealand’s commitment to fight the scary bearded guys with rags around their heads.

Here he is screaming about Iraq in October 2008:

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U.S. Propaganda Enters Into Insane, Irrational Overdrive in Attempt to “Sell” War in Syria

Thanks to a dizzying barrage of lies, mainstream media fear-mongering and a couple of beheadings, the Obama Administration finally achieved its long sought after war in Syria. The tactic that proved most effective in mobilizing the American public back into a shivering, post-9/11 fetal position, was the same tactic used by elites in the UK to convince Scotland against voting for independence. That tactic, as I detailed in a recent post, is fear.

However, fear in itself is not enough. It must be coupled with endless slogans and misdirection by the mainstream media and politicians. It must lead the public to subconsciously embrace a thought process that is completely irrational. Such tactics can be labeled propaganda, and it results in a public suddenly supporting a war it strongly opposed only a year ago. All it takes is a little repackaging. Propaganda allows those who profit from war to push the American public into a tizzy of trepidation based on a couple of beheadings from ISIS, while not batting an eye over

the daily beheadings that were simultaneously occurring in Saudi Arabia.

So the power structure and its impotent puppet, Barack Obama, intentionally pushed the American public into a frenzy of fear and finally got their little war. Nevertheless, serious people immediately began to call into question two very significant issues with respect to the aggression.

First, it appeared clear to almost everyone without a biased penchant for overseas death and destruction, that the war is completely unconstitutional and illegal no matter how you slice it. As I highlighted in the post, Obama’s ISIS War is Not Only Illegal, it Makes George W. Bush Look Like a Constitutional Scholar:

But the 2001 authorization for the use of military force does not apply here. That resolution — scaled back from what Mr. Bush initially wanted — extended only to nations and organizations that “planned, authorized, committed or aided” the 9/11 attacks.

 Not only was ISIS created long after 2001, but Al Qaeda publicly disavowed it earlier this year. It is Al Qaeda’s competitor, not its affiliate.

Mr. Obama may rightly be frustrated by gridlock in Washington, but his assault on the rule of law is a devastating setback for our constitutional order. His refusal even to ask the Justice Department to provide a formal legal pretext for the war on ISIS is astonishing.

Senators and representatives aren’t eager to step up to the plate in October when, however they decide, their votes will alienate some constituents in November’s midterm elections. They would prefer to let the president plunge ahead and blame him later if things go wrong. But this is precisely why the War Powers Resolution sets up its 60-day deadline: It rightly insists that unless Congress is willing to stand up and be counted, the war is not worth fighting in the name of the American people.

So that’s glaring problem number one. The second problem, which I highlighted in the post, The American Public: A Tough Soldier or a Chicken Hawk Cowering in a Cubicle? Some Thoughts on ISIS Intervention, is that:

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