Don't Look Here, ISIS!

[Howey]

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - a prescription fer failure...

DOD: Killing Terrorists 'Not the Goal' in Fight Against ISIS Terrorists
January 7, 2015 -- "Hundreds" of Islamic State fighters have been killed so far in U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, but killing those terrorists is "not the goal" of the U.S.-led campaign, Rear Admiral John Kirby told a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday.

Kirby could not say exactly how many Islamic State in Iraq and al Sham (ISIS or ISIL) fighters have been killed: "We just know it's hundreds," he said. "First of all, we don't have the ability to -- to count every nose that we shwack. Number two, that's not the goal. That's not the goal. The less of these guys that are out there, certainly that's the better, but the goal is to degrade and destroy their capabilities. "And we're not getting into an issue of body counts. And that's why I don't have that number handy. I wouldn't -- I wouldn't have asked my staff to give me that number before I came out here. It's simply not a relevant figure."

No 'tipping point' yet

Kirby also said the U.S.-led airstrikes have put the ISIS/ISIL terrorists in a "defensive posture" and halted their momentum: Nevertheless, "I would not describe where we are in the campaign as a tipping point," Kirby told reporters. "We've been able to halt their momentum and...that has remained the case for the last several weeks, but again, nobody's taking it for granted." Kirby said the U.S.-led coalition needs to be prepared for future offenses by ISIL: "We need to be vigilant for that."

Iraqi security forces deploy in a military operation to regain control of the villages around the town of Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq.

Kirby said the ISIS/ISIL terrorists still control the Iraqi city of Mosul, as well as parts of Anbar Province, Ramadi in particular. "They continue to threaten the city of Baiji," trying to seize control of that city's oil refinery from Iraqi Security Forces. "And they continue to threaten Yazidis in and around Mount Sinjar." In Syria, the city of Kobani at the border with Turkey is mostly controlled by the Kurds, but it "remains threatened." "So, it's very much a contested environment," Kirby continued, "but what we don't see, what we haven't seen in the last several weeks has been any renewed offensive moves by ISIL of any significance. They have largely taken a defensive posture in the last several weeks." Kirby couldn't give reporters the exact moment when the terrorists' momentum was halted: "It's come slowly, in various stages," he said. "But I think it's safe to say that over the last three to four weeks, we -- we've been confident that that momentum has largely been blunted. Again...nobody's taking this for granted. And this is a very determined enemy."

Kirby said the enemy is still able to recruit: "Their ideology is very attractive to a particular swathe of young Muslim men around the world. And -- and so again, we know that there's still a lot of work to do." Although he could not give any figures or percentages, Kirby said the U.S. knows it has curtailed ISIL's ability to get revenue from oil. "We know we've destroyed hundreds and hundreds of vehicles, artillery positions, checkpoints. We know that we've killed hundreds of their -- of their forces. And we know simply by virtue of where they are on the map and how little they are moving now that we have blunted the momentum that they once enjoyed. "Now they're not as free to maneuver around. They're not taking new ground, necessarily. And they're -- and they are in a more defensive posture. We know that. And some of this we know simply by, you know, intelligence that we're getting."

More U.S. troops heading to Iraq

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Obama Spokesman on Islam: 'It's a Peaceful Religion'
January 7, 2015 - - "This is a terrible act of violence, and one that we condemn in the strongest possible terms," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Wednesday morning, shortly after masked gunman killed 12 people at the offices of a satirical newspaper in Paris that has made fun of the Prophet Mohammed.

French President Francois Hollande called Tuesday's massacre a terror attack, but Earnest did not: He used the phrase "terrible act of violence" three times, and he also called Islam a "peaceful religion." "This violent extremism is something that the world has been dealing with for more than a decade now," Earnest said. "And we obviously are trying to monitor what we consider to be a really important threat, which is this threat of foreign fighters. So it is clear that ISIL does harbor the ambition to try and radicalize people all across the globe, and one core component of our strategy has been to mobilize the ...leaders in the Muslim community, particularly the moderate voices in the Muslim community, to talk about what the values of Islam really are. It's a peaceful religion. "And it's terrible that we're seeing some radical extremists attempt to use some of the values and tenets of that religion and distort them greatly and inspire people to commit terrible acts of violence."

Without getting ahead of the breaking news in France, Earnest said the Obama administration is "very cognizant of this threat posed by foreign fighters, that's posed by ISIL's attempt to use social media in a rather sophisticated way -- to try to inspire people around the globe to commit other acts of violence, and it's something we work very closely with our allies on a daily basis to combat." Earnest said the "thoughts and prayers" of President and Mrs. Obama are with the families of those who were killed in France, and also with the French people. "We're still, obviously in the very early stages of trying to figure out what exactly happened, who was responsible, and what their motivation was.

Police officers and firemen gather outside the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing 12 people before escaping, police and a witness said. The weekly has previously drawn condemnation from Muslims.

Earnest called the French "stalwart allies" in the fight to "degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL," and he said France also is cooperating in the effort to stop foreign fighters from waging terrorism in their home countries. "We know that they are not going to be cowed by this terrible act of violence," he said. Later Wednesday morning, appearing on CNN, Earnest was asked, "Do you see this as an act of terrorism?" "Well, you know, I think based on what we know right now it does seem like that's what we're confronting here...and if, based on this investigation, it turns out to be an act of terrorism, then we would condemn that in the strongest possible terms, too."

Earnest said it's not just an attack on the people of France and on innocent civilians-- "This is an attack on some of the basic values that we hold dear here in this country -- basic values of freedom of speech and freedom of expression, and the free press, that is also held dear by our allies in France. "So this is something that we take very seriously, it's something that we condemn...in the strongest possible terms." Earnest said President Obama is still planning to travel to a Ford plant in Detroit on Wednesday, "to talk about what is a good news story, which is the tremendous progress that the American auto industry has made over the last five or six year ...thanks to policies this administration put in place..."

Obama Spokesman on Islam It s a Peaceful Religion CNS News