"For the first time since the Islamic State group formally announced its desire to conquer Saudi Arabia last month, government officials said terrorist elements had launched an attack on the Saudi border with Iraq. Four militants, one wearing a suicide vest, attacked a border fortification Monday, killing three Saudi border guards.
The militants' official media wing for Iraq’s Anbar province published a photo essay taking responsibility for the attack, which is the closest ISIS has come to breaching the coveted Saudi Arabian border since it declared the existence of a caliphate in June. The suicide attack signals a change in the group’s strategy to conquer the kingdom. It was both the first direct attack on Saudi armed forces and the first documented attempt by the militant group to infiltrate the country. Despite the government's past efforts to quell extremism, Saudi Arabia has become increasing vulnerable to ISIS advances." ibtimes
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Meanwhile .... Rear Admiral John Kirby, the DoD press spokesman is assuring the world that the assistance efforts of the US & friends have stopped the rot in Iraq and Syria and that IS has lost the initiative to us. I doubt it. It seems more likely to me that what damage we have done to IS with air attacks is not decisive.
What I hear from within DoD and CIA is that the temptation to get rid of independent thinkers among the analysts and hire yes men (and women) in their stead has prevailed so that the decision makers are once again being told what they want to hear by members of the time serving and careerist members of the boot licking class.
Based on the much welcomed assesments of such people the US is preparing to deliver another 170 odd Abrams tanks, masses of armored Humvees, a lot of MRAPS and a mountain of small arms. IMO, IS will welcome the renewed supply of equipment.
Saudi Arabia is a big fat roasted turkey waiting for the diners to arrive. The country is rotten with IS sympathisers. My. My. pl
Babak,
The point of that temporary marriage example was not to judge it as illiberal/un modern or vice versa. It was an example to demonstrate that in Sunni Islam things that have precedence in times of prophet and companions could be changed. It was in response to your argument about suspension of secondary rulings.
My argument is that there is nothing dramatically different there. Like Deng said it doesn't matter if cat is black or white as long as it eats the mouse
Posted by: Farooq | 08 January 2015 at 03:41 PM
Col.,
Egyptian President al-Sisi gave a speech in Cairo on New Year's Day at Al-Azhar University. I've only seen a few quotes in the papers and not the whole thing. I was wondering if this is something of substance that may have actual impact in Egypt and possibly outside?
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/01/05/in-need-of-a-religious-revolution
Posted by: Fred | 08 January 2015 at 06:12 PM