Coalition signs up against ISIS
Governments in the Middle East are signing on to President Obama’s coalition against the Islamic State. Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and even the Gulf Cooperation Council, pledge to ‘stand united’ and willing to contribute with the US war effort against the ISIS threat. Some complications consist of exactly what effort each Arab nation provides and if Assad allows US air power to cross Syrian airspace without retaliation. A former officer of the US navy believes that Assad’s air defenses are overrating. Harmer:
Once they turn on the tracking radar … we’re going to have a dozen anti-radiation missiles go after it. I can’t imagine the Assad regime would be dumb enough to impede our progress.
CIA: ISIS has 20,000 – 31,500 fighters
The CIA estimates that ISIS has between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters in Iraq and Syria. It was initially estimated there were as many as 10,000 fighters, including those who were freed from prisons by ISIS, and Sunni loyalists who have joined the fight as the group advanced across Iraq.
This new total reflects an increase in members because of stronger recruitment since June following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate, greater battlefield activity, and additional intelligence.
‘Jihad poster girls’
Austrian authorities are concerned that 16-year-old Samra Kesinovic and 15-year-old Sabina Selimovic are inspiring other Austrian teens to join extremist groups after the pair allegedly ran away from their homes in Vienna to join ISIS. Interior Ministry spokesman Alexander Marakovits says authorities are noticing an increase in such incidents after a 16-year-old and a 14-year-old are detained attempting to leave the country, apparently to travel to Syria. Marakovits:
If we can catch them before they leave we have the chance to work with their parents and other institutions to bring the youngsters out of the sphere of influence that prompted them to act in this way the first place. Once they have left the country, even if they then changed their minds, it is then almost impossible to get them back.
ISIS speech
Obama addresses the nation in a televised speech on ISIS from the State Floor of the White House (full text). He says the U.S. will take action against terrorists wherever they are:
First, we will conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes against these terrorists. Working with the Iraqi government, we will expand our efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions, so that we’re hitting ISIL targets as Iraqi forces go on offense. Moreover, I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are. That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq.
The U.S. personnel deployed to Iraq in June have completed their mission of supporting the security forces now that the country has formed a new government, and an additional 475 servicemembers will be sent to provide training, intelligence and equipment to Iraqi and Kurdish forces. The U.S. will also support the development of National Guard units to help Sunni communities secure their own freedom from ISIL’s control.
Congress must authorize assistance to Syrian opposition:
In the fight against ISIL, we cannot rely on an Assad regime that terrorizes its own people — a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost. Instead, we must strengthen the opposition as the best counterweight to extremists like ISIL, while pursuing the political solution necessary to solve Syria’s crisis once and for all.
The U.S. will chair an international summit under the UN banner to mobilize international support and to provide humanitarian aid to Sunni and Shia Muslims as well as religious minorities:
Working with our partners, we will redouble our efforts to cut off [ISIS’s] funding; improve our intelligence; strengthen our defenses; counter its warped ideology; and stem the flow of foreign fighters into and out of the Middle East.
The strategy depends on engagement with the international community and support from the U.S.’s coalition partners:
Secretary Kerry was in Iraq today meeting with the new government and supporting their efforts to promote unity. And in the coming days he will travel across the Middle East and Europe to enlist more partners in this fight, especially Arab nations who can help mobilize Sunni communities in Iraq and Syria, to drive these terrorists from their lands.
Congressional support will be welcomed:
My administration has also secured bipartisan support for this approach here at home. I have the authority to address the threat from ISIL, but I believe we are strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together. So I welcome congressional support for this effort in order to show the world that Americans are united in confronting this danger.
The conflict will not be another Iraq war:
It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil. This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years. And it is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year: to use force against anyone who threatens America’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order.
Military ops near Tikrit
Iraqi Army troops force ISIS to retreat northwards from areas south of Tikrit city, located 150 miles northwest of Baghdad, killing ‘tens’ of ISIS militants in heavy clashes in the area. The military is planning to launch further operations from the area. Salauhddin Governorate Council president Ahmed al-Karim:
The security forces have set up a camp in al-Daluiya south of Tikrit and will head north from al-Jabour area in north of Daluiya to start an extensive military operation against ISIS fighters.
‘No evidence’ ISIS crossing Mexico border
Border officials say there is no evidence that ISIS militants are entering the U.S. via Mexico despite evidence that the possibility is being discussed on social media accounts related to ISIS. They say that radicalized militants returning to the U.S. remain a greater threat. Department of Homeland Security official Jennifer Lasley tells the House Homeland Security border security subcommittee:
We don’t have any credible information, that we are aware of, of known or suspected terrorists coming across the border.
John Wagner, assistant commissioner in the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s Office of Field Operation:
The number of known watch-listed persons we are encountering on the Southwest border is minimal compared to commercial aviation. We’re talking tens versus thousands.
Schedules ISIS speech for primetime
The White House says Obama’s ISIS speech is scheduled for 9 p.m. EDT and will be delivered from the State Floor. The speech was previously expected to be scheduled outside primetime slots. Press secretary Josh Earnest:
[Obama will] discuss with the American people the threat posed by ISIL and to lay out the United States’ strategy for degrading and ultimately destroying the terrorist group.
Military bases planned
The UK is planning to set up or expand three military bases in the Middle East to respond to the threat of ISIS. An infantry battalion may be based in the United Arab Emirates while a training post in Oman could be used, and the Royal Navy is believed to hope that the port in Bahrain could be increased in size to accommodate more sailors and bigger warships. Defence source:
You could see an infantry battalion based in al-Minhad, being able to train alongside the Emirates
Authorizes $25 million aid
Obama authorizes $25 million in immediate military aid to the Iraqi government, including the Kurdistan Regional Government, to help with military education and training. A White House memorandum says the funds are intended…
…to aid their efforts to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Travels to Iraq
Kerry arrives in Baghdad for talks on forming a coalition to fight ISIS. He is due to meet with Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, who is a Shiite, President Fuad Masum, a Kurd, and Salim al-Jubouri, the Sunni speaker of Parliament. A senior State Department official traveling with Kerry says the new inclusive government – which the U.S. has insisted on in exchange for military support against ISIS – will play a ‘critical role’ in the effort to ‘degrade and ultimately eventually defeat’ the group. Kerry says progress has been made, but offers no details:
We are very encouraged.
‘Has the authority to act against ISIS’
The Obama administration says he will ask Congress to quickly authorize training and arming Syrian opposition forces in his prime-time speech on his anti-ISIS strategy due Wednesday night in Washington. The President will push forward on other areas of the anti-ISIS strategy without formal approval from lawmakers, potentially including widening airstrikes in Iraq and possibly expanding the air campaign to Syria. Following an hour-long meeting with congressional leaders, the White House says Obama told them he ‘has the authority he needs to take action,’ but will still welcome action from action from Congress that would…
…aid the overall effort and demonstrate to the world that the United States is united in defeating the threat.
Austrian girls detained
Austrian authorities detain two girls attempting to leave the country to join extremist groups in the Middle East. The girls are aged 16 and 14, and their parents are apparently of Iraqi origin. They are caught when the mother of a third friend who was supposed to be traveling with them becomes suspicious about the amount of luggage her daughter is packing. Police are now hoping to find out how they became radicalised, and whether anybody helped them plan their trip to Syria via Turkey.
20 ISIS members killed in Babel
Iraqi security forces are reported to have killed 20 ISIS fighters in Jurf al-Sakhar district of northern Babel. A security source:
A security force conducted a security operation where it killed 20 ISIL terrorists and damaged their boats in Euphrates River of northern Babel.
Urges intelligence cooperation on ISIS
Israeli defense officials urge cooperation between global intelligence services on ISIS. Defense Minister Ya’alon tells Israel Radio:
In order to stop and overcome the Islamic State, we have learnt since 9/11 that there must be cooperation between intelligence agencies from across the free world, a sharing of experience and operational cooperation
Former military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin
The intelligence that we gather in the Middle East — which deals with threats from Iran, (Lebanon’s Shiite) Hezbollah, what’s happening in Syria, terrorist organizations in Sinai and the Gaza Strip — is of very good quality and we share it with our allies
Saudi Arabia to hold terror summit Sept. 11
Saudi Arabia will host a summit to discuss the regional threat of terrorism on Sept. 11, inviting representatives from the U.S., Egypt, Turkey, Jordan and member states of the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). A statement from the Kingdom:
The meeting will tackle the issue of terrorism in the region and the extremist organizations that stand behind it and the means of addressing it.
Video shows captured fighter jets
An ISIS propaganda video shows at least three MIG-21 fighter jets captured in the seizure of al-Taqba airbase. The footage obtained by CNN shows fighters displaying the ISIS flag above the captured jets at the base, which was seized around two weeks earlier. The jets are not shown in the air, however CNN Arabic reports that several pilots were captured along with their planes and helicopters at al-Tabqa. It says a tweet from ISIS claims they are forcing the prisoners to train militants to fly the stolen aircraft.
Arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is issued for Baryalei after he is identified by ABC’s 7:30 investigative program as Australia’s most senior ISIS member. Authorities say he has used a trusted position in ISIS operational command to funnel more than half of the 60 Australians currently fighting in the wars in Iraq and Syria, including senior fighters Mohamed Elomar and Khaled Sharrouf. They say he has also facilitated the recruitment of at least two 17-year-old boys and at least seven Australians who have gone on to be killed in Syria and Iraq. Federal police spokesman:
Should Baryalei return to Australia, this warrant authorises law enforcement to arrest him immediately.
Identified as top ISIS member
An investigation by ABC’s 7:30 program identifies 33-year-old Mohammad Ali Baryalei from Sydney as Australia’s most senior ISIS member. Baryalei is from an aristocratic Afghan family that came to Australia as refugees as a child, and has worked as a security guard in King’s Cross and made a brief appearance as an extra on the true crime show Underbelly. Police say that in 2013 he traveled to Syria to fight with extremist groups and has since become the top recruiter of Australians to ISIS, involved in its operational command in Syria and Iraq as a facilitator for Australians traveling to join jihad. Baryalei in an intercepted phone call with his handler in Sydney:
Four brothers coming this week. They are leaving Australia. Going to try to get them by the weekend. Abu Qaqa is the tall one that was doing Dawah with you. … The brothers yesterday, they were crying, affected, none of them wanted to stay in this country one second.
Top rebel commander killed
The head of the Syrian group considered the strongest opponent to ISIS and the Assad government is killed at its headquarters in the northwestern town of Ram Hamdan in Idlib province. A suicide bomber infiltrates a meeting of leaders of Ahrar al-Sham (The Islamic Movement of Free Men of the Levant), killing its commander Hassan Aboud, also known as Abu Abdullah al-Hamwi. A statement from the group says 11 other leaders were killed. The Assad regime doesn’t typically conduct suicide bombings, but they are a common tactic among extremist rebel groups such as ISIS and Al-Nusra Front. Tweet from Islamic Front, the coalition led by Ahrar al-Sham:
They were martyred … in an explosion inside their meeting headquarters
Poll: 61% support military action
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that 61% of Americans say that taking military action against ISIS is in the interests of the U.S., while only 13% disagree, and 24% say they don’t know. It finds that 94% of Americans are aware of the beheadings of Sotloff and Foley, higher than any other news event the NBC/WSJ poll has measured in the last five years. Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Peter Hart of Hart Research:
A very war-weary country … seems to have woken up to the real threat that ISIS may present. The beheadings are so chilling to the American public. The only things I think of equal impact are the self-immolations back in Vietnam.