Debating war on ISIS finally

Today, right now, the House is debating the war against ISIS, almost a year after it began, well past the 60 day limit of the War Powers Act.

Watch live here or go to the beginning around 1 hour 26 minutes

Here is the Legislative Digest

Here is the rule on the bill

Here is the Rep Barbara Lee AUMF that will actually defeat ISIS 

Follow Live Tweets from @winwithoutwar

More on the US raid against Abu Sayyaf

Updating my thoughts on the raid that killed ISIS oil finance minister Abu Sayyaf and captured his wife Umm Sayyaf.

Adam Johnson in an article for FAIR writes how the Mainstream media, blindly following the Obama Administration's claims of another "success" against ISIS failed to remind readers that the US had just put boots on the ground in Syria

Per usual, the media would retell the narrative based entirely on Pentagon and White House action movie prose. Just as with the bin Laden raid narrative—that later turned out to be mostly false—this tale involved some unbelievably compelling details: “rescuing a Yazidi slave,” “hand-to-hand combat,” “women and children as human shields,” “precise fire” (that, of course, avoided these women and children), and a body count, “40 extremists,” that would make Jack Bauer blush.

continued

given that the last such politically loaded raid, on the bin Laden “compound” in Pakistan, turned out to be full of White House lies—to say nothing of Seymour Hersh’s recent, high-profile allegations that theentire thing was staged—you’d think a bit of skepticism would be in order. But, in a world of mass information asymmetry, the government’s word on these matters is treated as the authoritative one until proven otherwise.

This routine problem, however, is not the real journalistic crime here. The real issue is that the White House just admitted it has American ground troops engaged in combat missions in Syria—and no one seemed to notice, much less care.

While it’s true the White House has acknowledged hostage rescue missions in Syria, this is the first time it’s admitted soldiers have been deployed inside Syria for expressly military purposes.

I wonder what percentage of reporters being spoonfed this raid in Syria know that "Abu" and "Umm" aren't their real names.

— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) May 16, 2015

.@bungdan Of interest here is that Syrian government also claims the raid but uses name "Abu al-Taym al-Saudi"

— Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) May 16, 2015

.@chinahand @bungdan To add to confusion SOHR says it was an airstrike! So what was it really? Flip flop on the grounds? Oil-"barrel bombs"?

— Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) May 16, 2015

@chinahand Cognizant that raid happened just after Mohammed bin Nayef was in country. @MoonofA @bungdan

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 16, 2015

@chinahand But I doubt this is pushback on Hersh, bc it already feels too similar. They're not that dumb. @bungdan @MoonofA

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 16, 2015

US spec ops literally had to 'shoot around' human shields to kill ISIS' #AbuSayyaf. http://t.co/W15RvaCxtl

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) May 16, 2015

Abu Sayyaf wasn't the only one targeted. Also, @MPPregent made me laugh today. http://t.co/eVgSHWmlIp pic.twitter.com/hrmeZOPkbp

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) May 16, 2015

I noticed a few things from the Daily Beast article.  One is that here there is not mention that Umm Sayyaf was an initial target of the raid like the White House and Pentagon said in their statements.

His wife, an Iraqi national, and an 18-year-old Yazidi slave were taken out of the compound, as well as computers, cell phones and other forms of potential intelligence sources, which U.S. officials already believe will be valuable.

continued 

U.S. officials suspect that Abu Sayyaf's wife, Umm Sayyaf, is also a member the group and "played an important role in ISIL’s terrorist activities, and may have been complicit in the enslavement of the young woman rescued last night."

U.S. officials are questioning Umm Sayyaf, an Iraqi national, and still have not determined what will happen to her. Among the options being considered is releasing her or turning her over to Iraqi custody.

(Abu and Umm Sayaf are nom de guerres, meaning Father and Mother of Sayyaf, but defense officials said they did not have their actual names to release.)

continued

Another senior US official, who asked not to be identified for this article, told The Daily Beast that Abu Sayyaf was one of several ISIS figures targeted in the raid but that the others had left before the strike-force arrived, suggesting although the mission had been fully successful, US commanders were hoping to ensnare bigger ISIS leaders.

Political activists in the area say another ISIS oil emir, a Saudi national, was killed in the raid as well. They also say that Abu Sayyaf’s wife is a relative of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, although it is not clear whether by blood or marriage. 

I thought Obama promised no boots on the ground. http://t.co/KjYmRK5SZL

— Ali Gharib (@Ali_Gharib) May 16, 2015

Adam concludes by saying

What the media rarely do is stop to put things in context. It’s the slow drip of a war that’s sold to an American public in small, disconnected parts, so we don’t notice.

Put another way: If we were told in August 2014 that within a year, the US would have ground troops carrying out raids in Syria and Iraq, as well as bombing in both countries, would we have agreed?

The US raid in Syria

**Update
I do not know yet whether Umm Sayyaf was a target before the raid or that is just what they said after raid happened--Remember that Syria spoke first (h/t Moon of Alabama)

John Bellinger wrote about some of the legal aspects of the raid and the detention of Umm Sayyaf at Lawfare

Presumably, the domestic law authority both for the raid, and for the detention, is the 2001 AUMF, upon which the Obama Administration has been relying since last September for military operations against ISIS, despite the near unanimous agreement of observers that it is legal stretch to do so (given that the 2001 AUMF is directed at the “nations, organizations, or persons” responsible for the 9-11 attacks). It’s especially ironic that the Administration would continue to rely on the 2001 AUMF for detention for ISIS members, given that President Obama has repeatedly said that he wants to “repeal” the 2001 AUMF.

State Department said in its daily briefing on Monday that yes Umm Sayyaf is being detained under 2001 and 2002 AUMF authorities

MR RATHKE: -- for detention, the President has authority under the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs, and the international legal basis for this detention is the consent of the Government of Iraq in the context of the ongoing military operations in Iraq and Syria against ISIL.

Main Article

The weekend after Seymour Hersh's exposé about the lies told by the White House about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and as a reminder that we are at war in Iraq and Syria, and we have more than 3,000 boots on the ground, US special operations forces conducted a raid against ISIS's oil and finance "minister" known as Abu Sayyaf in al-Amr Syria.  According to the White House National Security Council and The Pentagon statements about the raid, but left out of most newspaper accounts is that Abu Sayyaf's wife, known as Umm, was an intended target of the raid, and not a bonus after-thought as described in most accounts.

White House NSC (emphasis mine)

Last night, at the President’s direction, U.S. personnel based out of Iraq conducted an operation in al-Amr in eastern Syria to capture an ISIL senior leader known as Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf. During the course of the operation, Abu Sayyaf was killed when he engaged U.S. forces.

Pentagon (emphasis mine)

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2015 – Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced in a statement today that U.S. special operations forces yesterday conducted an operation in Syria to capture a senior leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist organization.

“Last night, at the direction of the Commander in Chief, I ordered U.S. special operations forces to conduct an operation in al-Amr in eastern Syria to capture an ISIL senior leader known as Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf,” Carter said.

Abu Sayyaf was involved in ISIL's military operations and also helped direct the terrorist organization's illicit oil, gas and financial operations, the defense secretary said.

“Abu Sayyaf was killed during the course of the operation when he engaged U.S. forces,” he said.

“U.S. forces captured Umm Sayyaf, who we suspect is a member of ISIL, played an important role in ISIL's terrorist activities, and may have been complicit in what appears to have been the enslavement of a young Yezidi woman rescued last night,” Carter said.

New York Times (emphasis mine)

American Special Operations forces mounted a rare raid into eastern Syria early Saturday, killing a leader of the Islamic State and about a dozen militant fighters, as well as capturing his wife

nowhere does it mention that she was an intended target of the raid (emphasis mine)

Bruce O. Riedel, a former C.I.A. analyst now at the Brookings Institution, said the operation looked like “a collection mission, the goal to capture someone or two someones who can explain how ISIS works.” With Abu Sayyaf now dead, he said, “perhaps the wife can do that.”

McClatchy (selected)

Captured alive in the operation was the man’s wife, who officials identified as Umm Sayyaf. She was taken back to Iraq for questioning.

It was unclear what would become of Umm Sayyaf. In its statements, the Obama administration said it believed she was a member of the Islamic State

whether Umm Sayyaf could be charged with a crime was uncertain.

The United States will follow “its usual practice” and provide the International Committee of the Red Cross” access to Umm Sayyaf, Meehan said.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/05/16/266909/us-says-it-killed-isis-finance.html#storylink=cpy

Emptywheel writes about Ron Wyden's "guess where John Brennan lied" and brings up Moon of Alabama's article asking about Syria's cooperation in the raid which is denied by everyone in every story.

Jeremy Scahill adds that this is part of the increase in ground troops in Syria

Regarding the reported SOF raid that killed Abu Sayyaf in Syria, remember that Brig. Gen. Michael Nagata was deployed to run a covert war

— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) May 17, 2015

Nagata is black ops guy w long history of running covert SOF ops. This is just the beginning of increase of boots on the ground ops in Syria

— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) May 17, 2015

Additionally while searching for articles about the raid I found another Abu Sayyaf (Jama'ah Abu Sayyaf terror group) from the Philippines and another raid conducted this weekend

Straits Times

TUBURAN, Philippines (AFP) - Government forces in the southern Philippines said Saturday they were hunting a suspected Malaysian bomb-maker who may be helping the Abu Sayyaf extremists.

The suspect, identified as Mohammad Najib, is believed to have fled after troops overran one of their bomb-making camps on the southern island of Basilan on Thursday, said Colonel Joselito Rolando Bautista, the island's military commander.

Three militants and one soldier were killed when soldiers overran the camp of the Abu Sayyaf group, an armed band founded in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

Phil Star

MOHAMMED AJUL, Basilan — Government forces retook two villages from the control of the Abu Sayyaf group and a Malaysian bomb maker who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) after days of operations.

Barangay Tuburan Proper and Barangay Languyan, however, resemble ghost towns as more than 700 families have evacuated to other areas.

Houses were locked except for few civilians who dared to stay despite the presence of troops here Saturday.

The local police station, which was occupied by the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Ustadz Abbas Alam and Malaysian bombing suspect Mohammad Najib alias Anas, was also recovered earlier by the combined the Army's Scout Rangers and Special Forces at Barangay Tuburan.

The troops also cleared the adjacent village of Sitio Project Site where Alam and his Malaysian militant cohort converted his house into quarters for rebels and a makeshift bomb factory.

The clearing operation followed the offensive Thursday that left three militants killed and several others wounded.

The clearing was completed Saturday morning after it was rigged with several improved explosive devices, or IEDs, by militant groups who had slowed down the offensive since Thursday, Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, commander of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) said.

The campaign left government forces with one soldier killed and eight others wounded.

Guerrero, who personally visited the troops and assessed the operation on ground, said soldiers recovered 50 pieces of pipe bomb casings fashioned with 4 x 12 inches of steel pipes, three liquefied gas tanks, an four-liter IED, radio transceivers, wires and other bomb equipment.

Also recovered were several "shahada" flags, known internationally as black flags similar to banners used by the ISIS.

Also I found that

Slate U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have stolen millions thru bribery, rigged contracts

Troops were selling the U.S. military’s fuel to Afghan locals on the side, and pocketing the proceeds.

Former Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen, who served as the principal watchdog for wrongdoing in Iraq from 2004 to 2013, said he suspected “the fraud … among U.S. military personnel and contractors was much higher” than what he and his colleagues were able to prosecute. John F. Sopko, his contemporary counterpart in Afghanistan, said his agency has probably uncovered less than half of the fraud committed by members of the military in Afghanistan.

 As of February, he said he had 327 active investigations still under way, involving 31 members of the military. “You don’t appreciate how much money is being stolen in Afghanistan until you go over there,” said Sopko, who says price-fixing and other forms of financial corruption are rampant in Afghanistan.

April 23, 2015 New York Times U.S. Weighs Training Iraqis to Call in American Airstrikes in ISIS Fight

A senior Obama administration official said Thursday that the United States was looking for ways to speed up United States bombing attacks on Islamic State militants, including a plan to train Iraqi troops to spot targets for American airstrikes.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq complained during his visit to Washington last week that it had been taking too long for the United States to carry out airstrikes on behalf of Iraqi forces. But a major constraint to shortening the time to conduct such strikes is that the White House has not authorized troops to accompany Iraqi forces on the battlefield and call in American and allied bombing attacks.

Knowing what you know now, would you have invaded Iraq? Rand Paul and many others have another question for Hillary Clinton--knowing what you know now, would you have overthrown Gaddafi in Libya?

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/05/16/266909/us-says-it-killed-isis-finance.html#storylink=cpy

Guest Post: Interview with Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al Maqdisi

I also write this blog over at WordPress and they have a feature called "reblogging" which is like retweeting for blogs, where you can host other people's work on your blog.

I found an English translation of an interview with Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al Maqdisi, a Jordanian cleric who was jailed during Stanley Cohen's attempt to rescue Peter Kassig (interview part 1 part 2)

Here is the English translation of the interview with Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al Maqdisi

New NGIA Director talks about mapping ISIS

The new Director of NGIA talks about the difficulty in mapping ISIS controlled territories

From GovExec

Geospatial Agency Chief Takes Care Not to Oversell Intelligence on the Islamic State

The speed with which the self-proclaimed Islamic State gobbled up territory in Iraq and Syria has made mapping its reach difficult, “which means we don’t try to oversell our intelligence,” the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency said on Wednesday.

continued 

Cardillo took reporters’ questions before he spoke at a banquet in Arlington, Va., hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, a nonprofit that brings together current and retired intelligence officials, academics and private contractors.

Stressing the geospatial agency’s role in numerous current crises, Cardillo—who became its sixth director in October—cited the “democratization” of geospatial information as an impetus for NGA to partner with public and private organizations. “With our new focus on consequence and NGA’s great legacy of public service, I have been encouraging NGA to become even more transparent,” he said in his speech. “With more transparency, NGA is uniquely positioned to play a leading role to advance public confidence in the intelligence community.”

Expressing a desire for greater service to the State Department and the United Nations, Cardillo cited recent intelligence mapping of evidence of human rights violations by the violent Boko Haram movement in Nigeria, as well as aid to the struggling Afghan government in determining whether voter fraud discredited its recent elections.

But he singled out for special praise NGA’s work in West Africa to help alleviate last fall’s Ebola crisis, as an example of partnering with private and nonprofit sector organizations. “We are the first intelligence agency to create a [website] with access to our relevant unclassified content” of important sites in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. “It is open to everyone—no passwords, no closed groups,” he said.

Since the website’s October 23 launch, NGA has posted one-fourth of all its available content affecting Ebola, 99 percent of which is unclassified, he said. These include elevation data and suitable sites for treatment centers. “We have publicly posted 224 NGA products,” he noted. “Our transparency is striking a major chord with NGOs, international health organizations and other countries as we approach 1 million clicks on our website.” Cardillo expressed special pride in one on-the-ground analyst embedded with the 101stAirborne in Monrovia to help update Liberia’s maps.

continued

The geospatial intel agency, he added, is the “most open and transparent intelligence agency involved in humanitarian relief, safety of navigation, public science and research. So we are natural integrators. Every modern local, regional and global challenge -- climate change, the future energy landscape and many more -- has geography at its heart.” 

I wrote about the NGIA's Ebola resources maps here

A Few missed stories

A short post of some of last weeks quiet headlines (October 24 2014)

Bad phone privacy news

Virginia Police Have Been Secretively Stockpiling Private Phone Records 

The database, which affects unknown numbers of people, contains phone records that at least five police agencies in southeast Virginia have been collecting since 2012 and sharing with one another with little oversight. Some of the data appears to have been obtained by police from telecoms using only a subpoena, rather than a court order or probable-cause warrant. Other information in the database comes from mobile phones seized from suspects during an arrest.

The five cities participating in the program, known as the Hampton Roads Telephone Analysis Sharing Network, are Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Suffolk, according to the memorandum of understanding that established the database.

Good phone privacy news
Cops Need a Warrant to Grab Your Cell Tower Data, Florida Court Rules

Police departments around the country have been collecting phone metadata from telecoms and using a sophisticated spy tool to track people through their mobile phones—often without obtaining a warrant. But a new ruling out of Florida has curbed the activity in that state, on constitutional grounds. It raises hope among civil liberties advocates that other jurisdictions around the country may follow suit.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that obtaining cell phone location data to track a person’s location or movement in real time constitutes a Fourth Amendment search and therefore requires a court-ordered warrant. 

Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani man on drugs charges today - that's 59 beheaded this year by one of the UK and US's closest allies.
— Rori Donaghy (@roridonaghy86) October 24, 2014

Things I learned today

having some writer's block at the moment, so here are some headlines

John Cantlie 
IS hostage John Cantlie's father dies, after making heartbreaking plea to have John released

The father of British IS hostage John Cantlie has died just days after making an emotional plea for his son to be released.

Paul Cantlie, 80, passed away from "complications following pneumonia", a statement released by his family said.

Ben Bradlee
Washington Post legendary editor Ben Bradlee dies

Barrett Brown

It's time to write letters of leniency for Barrett Brown, who's sentencing is November 24.  We are asking for time served.

Dan Murphy found the PHD thesis of Ashraf Ghani, the new President of Afghanistan (along with Abdullah Abdullah after a contested election)

Just found what looks like Ashraf Ghani's 1982 Phd thesis online. Haven't read it yet. http://t.co/pqLFjTmeGu
— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) October 21, 2014

Israeli hostage in Gaza
Richard Silverstein has confirmed reports that

an Israeli-Ethiopian from Ashkelon crossed the border into Gaza several weeks ago. The man was allegedly mentally ill and no one knows what drove him to do this. He is being held by authorities in Gaza.

Here is the earlier report.


IDF military "porn"
Rania Khalek found a company trying to make "Military inspired streetwear"

This is military porn. https://t.co/MAeU77gTTk
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) October 21, 2014

They are fundraising on IndieGoGo, raising money to "Help publish the world's first Israeli Army Women Calendar featuring real Israeli soldiers"

From the website

MTKL was founded by 2 former soldiers that always dreamt to show the world the beauty of Israel and its people.

We set out to recruit the highest calibre professional designers and stylists to develop a unique line of clothing and accessories, blending the best of military and street into must-have urban fashion. The spirit of our brand is captured in this stunning calendar.

21 cities restrict sharing food with homeless, 10 more are in the process of doing so

Israel arrests BDS activist

The Israeli army arrested Hebron city council member Faruk A'shur on October 8, later placing him in administrative detention for three months.

Armed Israeli settlers take over 2 buildings in East Jerusalem link

Is this finally some good news on banks?

Regulator Tells Banks to Clean Up Bad Behavior or Face Downsizing 

I found out that French Guiana in Latin America is part of France

French Guiana is not a separate territory but is both an overseas région and overseas department of France, with the same government institutions as areas on the French mainland.

 

ISIS and Chemical weapons (posts so far)

                                                                    (photo)

“Ebola is, in fact, the CNN of CNN”                         (photo)

So I've been writing since August about the fear of ISIS wanting/getting/making chemical or biological weapons. I wrote several posts about how ridiculous the fear-mongering has been since the articles debunk themselves, and creating the weapons is very hard.

First post

Foreign Policy has an article about an ISIS laptop found in Syria that among other documents, including jihadi speeches, contains

a 19-page document in Arabic on how to develop biological weapons and how to weaponize the bubonic plague from infected animals.

Marcy Wheeler compares this laptop "discovery" to one in 2004 that later turned out to be a forgery that contained Iran's nuclear program information.

Nothing on the ISIS laptop, of course, suggests that the jihadists already possess these dangerous weapons. And any jihadi organization contemplating a bioterrorist attack will face many difficulties: Al Qaeda tried unsuccessfully for years to get its hands on such weapons.

As I wrote, the CNN article debunks itself, going from "a very powerful and quick-acting chemical that behaves like a nerve agent...such as sarin" to "Whatever the substance may be, the implication of the laboratory tests was unmistakable for the experts consulted by CNN....."The implication is that al Qaeda, or another terrorist group, could create a number of different ways of attacking people, for example, in an enclosed area, such as an airport lobby, or in a theater or a train or a bus," Gilbert said."

CNN finally admitted that they had nothing but bad questions. ""There are a lot more questions this tape leaves than answers, unfortunately," he said. "Well, the questions are really bad questions."

Second Post

I wrote about who really was a threat with chemical weapons

The West has its own history of chemical weapons use and support, most notably in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war.  We supplied Saddam with chemical weapons despite our knowing that both sides were using chemcial weapons.  Saddam later used them against Kurds in Halabja.  Last year survivors of the attack sued Western companies that supplied Saddam with the chemicals.

We even took Saddam off the list of state sponsors of terrorism in order to give him chemical weapons.  I wonder who has America on a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

and wrote about our "alliance" against ISIS with the Syrian government, responsible for the death of almost 200,000 civilians, and even though the media reports that Syria's chemical weapons are declared and destroyed, chlorine was not on the list and is still being used by the government.

So our strategy against ISIS is

• Western countries fear ISIS could develop chemical weapons and use them to kill thousands of civilians

• In order to make sure that doesn't happen, we are teaming up with a leader who has used chemical weapons and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Third Post

We aren't hearing much lately about the "Laptop of Doom" anymore since we've started actually bombing ISIS in Syria, but the media continues to scare us.

continued

Our new Prime Minister in Iraq gives us a tip, there is a bad translation about imminence, then more scares about ongoing imminence... 

Iraq’s prime minister said Thursday that captured Islamic State militants have told Iraqi intelligence agents of an alleged plot to attack subways in the United States and Paris.

continued

So the media is again trying to scare us about ISIS subway plots (as they reassure us as well)

But meanwhile a more dangerous threat lurks in the background, under-reported in the media

New lab incidents fuel fear, safety concerns in Congress

Scientists wearing space-suitlike protective gear searched for hours in May for a mouse — infected with a virus similar to Ebola — that had escaped inside Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, one of the federal government's highest-security research facilities, according to newly obtained incident reports that provide a window into the secretive world of bioterror lab accidents. During the same month at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, a lab worker suffered a cut while trying to round up escaped ferrets that had been infected with a deadly strain of avian influenza, records show. Four days later at Colorado State University's bioterrorism lab, a worker failed to ensure dangerous bacteria had been killed before shipping specimens — some of them still able to grow — to another lab where a worker unwittingly handled them without key protective gear.

continued

More than 1,100 incidents involving select agents were reported by labs from 2008 through 2012 and more than half were serious enough workers received medical evaluation or treatment

How much coverage did the July hearing mentioned in the article get?

Maybe if we were trying to start a war this would get more coverage.

 Recent stories

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

it is important to be realistic about the threat. It remains unlikely that the group will be able to acquire and effectively use chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.

For a start, concerns that terrorists could buy or steal a nuclear device from a country that possesses them are exaggerated and have been comprehensively discredited.

While going through some of the myths and some remote possibilities, the conclusion is still the same.  Sure they'd like to, but most likely won't.

In short, ISIS does seem interested in acquiring chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, but ambitions do not necessarily equate with reality. The complexities of such weapons, combined with the difficulties involved in obtaining and handling the necessary material, make the likelihood of its use remote. Let’s not exaggerate the threat.

Al Arabiya Experts warn of ‘Ebola suicide bombers’---Possible but still just scary journalism--not contagious until very sick

Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) could turn themselves into Ebola “suicide bombers” against the Western world, terrorism experts have warned.

ISIS or other terrorist groups could simply dispatch individuals to Ebola-infected areas in West Africa where they would intentionally infect themselves and then spread the virus through the world’s air transportation network.

again the Foreign Policy "Laptop" article is mentioned

ISIS has already contemplated the use of biological weaponry, according to recent media reports.

Documents found on a laptop seized from ISIS militants in Syria show instructions on how to “develop biological weapons and how to weaponize the bubonic plague from infected animals,” according to a Foreign Policy report.

The laptop reportedly belonged to a Tunisian militant named Mohammad S., who studied chemistry and physics in his country’s northeast. 

Scientific American

Ebola's exponential spread has rekindled fears that terrorists may seek to turn the virus into a powerful weapon of mass destruction. Such talk has occurred on Capitol Hill and in national security circles. But the financial and logistical challenges of transforming Ebola into a tool of bioterror makes the concern seem overblown—at least as far as widespread devastation is concerned........a large amount of Ebola in the hands of a rogue group would more likely end up killing the plotters than making it to the endgame of a bioterrorism mission.

continued

Already there is historical precedent for states trying—and failing—to tap the virus for bioterror. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was “growing up large amounts of microbes for potential use in bioterrorism.......The Soviets attempted to cultivate smallpox, anthrax, tularemia, botulism and hemorrhagic fevers including Ebola, he says. Yet exactly how the country would have deployed the microbes remains an area of speculation. The Soviets eventually dropped the project.

 continued

any terrorist attempting to stoke fears rather than accrue a high body count could have some modicum of success with Ebola. “When talking about bioterror, it’s more about the terror than it is the bio,” Fauci says.

again, the most likely "terror attack" is what is arguably already happening--the fast spread of Ebola (emphasis mine)

The second, and perhaps easiest, small-scale bioterrorism option would be to recruit individuals for Ebola suicide missions. Such a plan would hinge on injecting Ebola virus into a limited number of people, who would then need to leave west Africa (or wherever the outbreak may be) before becoming symptomatic. Then those individuals would have to get into a public space and projectile vomit or bleed onto others to infect them. Obviously the plot would need to overcome substantial technical challenges including the extreme weakness that arises from Ebola. If it did succeed, this mode of transmission would not kill thousands of people, but it would set off significant fears. 

Ebola itself is already scary enough, and still terrorists getting access is still very hard

With an Ebola outbreak that has already killed more than 2,800 in west Africa and laid siege to the health care systems of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, it is clear that already Ebola is terrorizing thousands. Nevertheless, the possibility of rogue organizations sowing this terror on a similar scale seems largely out of reach.

Slate Ebola Is Not a Weapon: Conspiracy theories are highly contagious. Here’s why they’re wrong.

Stop it. Just stop it. Ebola isn’t a potential weapon for terrorists.

It isn’t. as reported by Forbes and the Daily Mail, a low-tech weapon of bioterror for ISIS. It isn’t the final refuge of a lone wolf on a suicide mission, in the words of Fox News. It isn’t a U.S.-built race-targeting bioweapon, as the leader of the Nation of Islam declared.

Ebola is very real, and very scary. But this outbreak isn’t a recipe for a bioweapon. Not unless you want to be the most incompetent bioterrorist in history.

First, the virus isn’t a viable bioweapon candidate. It doesn’t spread quickly—its R0, a measure of how infectious a virus is, is about 2. That means that, in a population where everyone is at risk, each infected person will, on average, infect two more people. But because someone with Ebola is infectious only when she shows symptoms, we’ve got plenty of chances to clamp down on an outbreak in a country with a developed public health system.

And unlike some bioweapons, such as anthrax, Ebola’s transmission mechanism makes it really hard to weaponize. Anthrax spores can be dried and milled so they form little particles that can float on the air and be inhaled. Ebola requires the transmission of bodily fluids, and those don’t make efficient or stealthy weapons.

continued

Someone with Ebola isn’t infectious until she has symptoms, and even then, there is often only a small window for action before the disease takes hold. Many people who contract Ebola do so while caring for someone who is crippled by the affliction. A terrorist who wants to infect others isn’t likely to be functional enough to run around spreading the disease for very long—and even then, will find it hard to transmit the virus.

continued

Ebola isn’t a weapon; it’s the collision between humans and their environment. It’s about the failure of public health in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. And it’s a failure, on our parts, to act and assist the people of these countries. That’s a failure of trust.

In developed countries, the biggest threat is not the terrorist, but fear. That fear is causing lawmakers to campaign for stepping up screening, even though it is unlikely to work—it is too hard to track people in air travel, and it isn’t effective at detecting cases. That fear is causing politicians to claim that we should seal the border to Mexico, or ban all flights out of West Africa.

That fear is a powerful weapon that can be used against us. Terror leading us to make bad decisions is much more effective against rich, developed nations than Ebola could be. If we want to beat the latter, we have to beat the former.

To beat Ebola, we have to worry less about terrorists, and more about helping others. 

But if you want to have some fun there is always Twitter.

Has ISIS weaponized Ebola yet?
— Kieron Dwyer (@kierondwyer) October 15, 2014

ISIS has weaponized Ebola and is using it to take over the world and possibly the moon
— Kim Jong Trill (@PenisBearCats) October 17, 2014

No need for #isis to weaponize #ebola when CDC has already weaponized Stupid.
— Chris K (@d0gmah) October 15, 2014

What's worse that ISIS with weaponized Ebola? Bernie Sanders singing folk music http://t.co/6odOAbsCuq
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) September 17, 2014

and the "let's fight ISIS with weaponized Ebola"

Wondering if it's against the Geneva Convention to fight ISIS with weaponized ebola. #germwarfare http://t.co/CgxEe42Hb2
— Christopher Lindley (@framecrash) September 14, 2014

and the partisan "look at the crazy Republicans"

@texasinafrica I warned you that RWNJs would start claiming that ISIS would bring weaponized Ebola into the US. http://t.co/CO67zVkL2I
— Tim Kosferatu (@twkovach) September 9, 2014

See? I'm not the only one either

I'm not the only one who points out those not popular in the mainstream media.

I have just published this post about Malala's friends who were also shot by the Taliban, and I go to Twitter and see this by Vijay Prashad.

Do you recall these names: Muhannad Akidi, Raad al-Azzawi......Iraqi journalists killed by ISIS. Will you remember them?
— Vijay Prashad (@vijayprashad) October 13, 2014

I will remember their names.



See this post on Syrian journalists too.



These were my thoughts when Steven Sotloff was killed by ISIS.

The Airstrikes are Working...

The airstrikes against ISIS are working, but not as the US intended.  The critics of war are correct again.

Vijay Prashad writes

US airstrikes on Syria seem to be driving Islamists into the arms of ISIS......

and

Pressure on Jabhat al-Nusra to reunite with ISIS after US airstrikes, http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrias-nusra-front-pressured-join-isis-after-us-led-airstrikes

Syria's Nusra Front pressured to join with ISIS after US-led airstrikes September 26, 2014

Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front, is facing mounting pressure from its own members to reconcile with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and confront a common enemy after US-led air strikes hit both groups this week.

But that move would require pledging loyalty to ISIS, which has declared a caliphate in territory it controls in Iraq and Syria, which would effectively put an end to al-Nusra Front, fighters in the group say.

adding

If that does happen, it would be an alliance and not a merger

and

Syria rebels, experts say US airstrikes hit Al-Nusra Front not "Khorasan"

The US says it has hit a group called "Khorasan" in Syria, but experts and Syria's so called "moderate" opposition argue it actually struck al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra Front, which fights alongside the Syria rebels.

continued

"In Syria, no one had ever heard talk of Khorasan until the US media brought it up," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

continued

targeting al-Nusra could even prove controversial within Washington's anti-jihadist alliance.

Some key members are believed to maintain channels of communication with al-Nusra, including Qatar, which has helped negotiate the release of prisoners held by the group.

Al-Nusra's terrorism in Lebanon

In August, the Lebanese army clashed with the al-Nusra and ISIS jihadists in the northeastern town of Ersal, on the Syrian borders, leaving 10 Lebanese soldiers dead.
The extremist group recently executed Lebanese soldier, Mohammad Hammieh, and is now threatening to execute second Lebanese soldier, Ali Bzal.

And in Iraq as Britain has just voted to join the military campaign against ISIS (Q & A), some Iraqis say "no" to US aistrikes

Published on Sep 21, 2014

Iraqi Shi'ite fighters say they do not need outside help as they push to reclaim the area of Jarf Al Sakher from Islamic State militants. Vanessa Johnston reports.

The day before Obama launched the first airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, we learned what many had already been saying as we saw the US march again towards war

Weeks of U.S. Strikes Fail to Dislodge ISIS in Iraq

BAGHDAD — After six weeks of American airstrikes, the Iraqi government’s forces have scarcely budged the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State from their hold on more than a quarter of the country, in part because many critical Sunni tribes remain on the sidelines.

Although the airstrikes appear to have stopped the extremists’ march toward Baghdad, the Islamic State is still dealing humiliating blows to the Iraqi Army.

even as Obama bombs Iraq and Syria, he knows there is no military solution to a political problem

Behind the government’s struggles on the battlefield is the absence or resistance of many of the Sunni Muslim tribes that officials in Baghdad and Washington hope will play the decisive role in the course of the fight — a slow start for the centerpiece of President Obama’s plan to drive out the militants.

The Sunni tribes of Anbar and other areas drove Qaeda-linked militants out of the area seven years ago with American military help, in what became known as the Sunni Awakening. But the tribes’ alienation from the subsequent authoritarian and Shiite-led government in Baghdad opened the door for the extremists of the Islamic State to return this year.

so in conclusion, the airstrikes against ISIS are "working"

• to recruit more members

• to reunite ISIS with Al Qaeda approved al Nusra Front

• ISIS demanded airstrikes in Iraq stop in beheading videos that increased recruiting more jihadis

and now we're bombing Syria as well.

Don't Fear ISIS Chemical Weapons Part 3

We aren't hearing much lately about the "Laptop of Doom" anymore since we've started actually bombing ISIS in Syria, but the media continues to scare us about terrorists

(Here is Part 1 and Part 2)

Our new Prime Minister in Iraq gives us a tip, there is a bad translation about imminence, then more scares about ongoing imminence...

Iraq’s prime minister said Thursday that captured Islamic State militants have told Iraqi intelligence agents of an alleged plot to attack subways in the United States and Paris

continued

Initially the AP quoted al-Abadi as saying ‘‘yes’’ when asked if an attack was imminent. A review of his remarks established that he actually said, ‘‘I’m not sure.’’

He said that the attack threat had not been thwarted.

‘‘No, it has not been disrupted yet... this is a network,’’

Officials say they are not aware of any threats, and the terrorists want us to live in fear and we refuse to do so

At a news conference outside the Union Square subway station Thursday afternoon, de Blasio worked to calm the nerves of New Yorkers after news of the alleged plot, saying city officials have found no specific threat.

“We are convinced that New Yorkers are safe,” he said. “We are convinced that people should go about our normal routine. Terrorists want us to live in fear. We refuse to live in fear.”

But just to be safe, worry about everything anyway and report anything weird that you see

The mayor also stressed the importance of the subway system’s “see something, say something” motto.

“The people of this city have an important role to play,” de Blasio said. “The phrase, ‘when you see something, say something’ is not an empty phrase. It is real.”

continued

police Commissioner Bill Bratton echoed the mayor’s statements.

“At this time, the people of this city should feel very comfortable and secure moving through the subways,” he said.

Republican Representative Peter King, a regular media figure talking terrorism (Islamic not Irish, see here or here) had a quote I found amusing for it's "don't worry but worry" aspect

“Anything involving ISIS is taken seriously and there is absolutely no evidence at all that there’s any validity to what the prime minister said,” King told 1010 WINS.

King said the nation must be on guard, but that the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies have not put out any advisories of an imminent threat against the U.S.

“If they thought it was imminent, they would be contacting New York state, New York City as soon as possible because when you’re talking about a subway attack obviously New York is always what first comes to mind,” King said. “We have at least 5,000 entrances and exits to train stations in New York, millions of commuters every day, millions of riders on the trains, so they would be first notified.”

So while there's no credible threat that anyone has heard about (or is admitting to) police will increase their presence once again

Bag inspections were being set up at some subway stations, more bomb-sniffing dogs and surveillance teams were deployed, and officers were working overtime and doing extra checks of subway stations

So the media is again trying to scare us about ISIS subway plots (as they reassure us as well)

But meanwhile a more dangerous threat lurks in the background, under-reported in the media

New lab incidents fuel fear, safety concerns in Congress

Scientists wearing space-suitlike protective gear searched for hours in May for a mouse — infected with a virus similar to Ebola — that had escaped inside Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, one of the federal government's highest-security research facilities, according to newly obtained incident reports that provide a window into the secretive world of bioterror lab accidents. During the same month at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, a lab worker suffered a cut while trying to round up escaped ferrets that had been infected with a deadly strain of avian influenza, records show. Four days later at Colorado State University's bioterrorism lab, a worker failed to ensure dangerous bacteria had been killed before shipping specimens — some of them still able to grow — to another lab where a worker unwittingly handled them without key protective gear.

continued

More than 1,100 incidents involving select agents were reported by labs from 2008 through 2012 and more than half were serious enough workers received medical evaluation or treatment

How much coverage did the July hearing mentioned in the article get?

Maybe if we were trying to start a war this would get more coverage.