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WE ARE OPEN - APRIL 2017 (KICKOFF APRIL 3RD) - Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS - GLOSSARY THREAD (SPOILER)
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http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeye/episo...
This seems to work now.
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Nada BakosSynopsis:
The story of a young woman from Montana who joined the CIA and worked her way up through the ranks to the frontline of the fight against Islamic extremists.
In 1999, 30-year-old Nada Bakos moved from her lifelong home in Montana to Washington, DC, to join the CIA. Quickly realizing her affinity for intelligence work, Nada was determined to rise through the ranks of the agency first as an analyst and then as a Targeting Officer, eventually finding herself on the frontline of America's War against Islamic extremists. In this role, Nada was charged with finding the godfather of ISIS and mastermind of Al Qaeda in Iraq: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
In a tight, tension-packed narrative that takes the reader from Langley deep into Iraq, Bakos reveals the inner workings of the Agency and the largely hidden world of intelligence gathering post 9/11. Entrenched in the predominantly male world of the CIA, Bakos belonged to a small yet dedicated sisterhood leading U.S. Special Operations Forces to the doorstep of one of the world's most wanted terrorists.
Filled with on-the-ground insights and poignant personal anecdotes, The Targeter shows us the great personal sacrifice that comes with intelligence work. This is Nada's story, but it is also an intimate chronicle of how a group of determined, ambitious men and women worked tirelessly in the heart of the CIA to ensure our nation's safety at home and abroad.
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The three injured tourists were not seriously wounded and were said to be in a stable condition
reported by Lizzie Dearden
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wor...
Source: The Independent
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(last edited Apr 15, 2017 11:23AM)
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By Frank Gardner
BBC security correspondent - 15 April 2017
Mr Trump has been warm towards Egypt's president, after relations cooled under President Obama - AFP
They're calling him "Abu Ivanka al-Amriki" - "Father of Ivanka, the American".
From Cairo to Qatar, the US presidential candidate once derided as impulsive, an Islamophobe and a misogynist appears to have turned into the Arab world's most popular US president since George H W Bush led the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991.
Today, Donald Trump is riding high in much of the Arab world's eyes.
So what is behind this and will it last?
Ask anyone in the Arab world what they think of former President Barack Obama and most will tell you that his eight years in office were a massive disappointment, at least as far as the Middle East is concerned. It started with Mr Obama's 2009 Cairo speech, entitled "A New Beginning".
This was supposed to set America on a path to new and better relations with the Arab world. Expectations were raised to unrealistically high levels and disappointment swiftly ensued.
Remainder of article:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-...
Source: BBC
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Syria war: Huge bomb kills dozens of evacuees in Syria
5 minutes ago
From the section Middle East
Remainder of article:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-...
Source: BBC
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https://youtu.be/iP9xNYCr5Js
Source: Youtube
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Abdullah II of JordanSynopsis:
A newsbreaking memoir that tackles head-on the toughest challenge in the world today.
When a dying King Hussein shocked the world by picking his son rather than his brother, the longtime crown prince, to be the next king of Jordan, no one was more surprised than the young head of Special Operations, who discovered his life was in for a major upheaval.
This is the inspirational story of a young prince who went to boarding school in America and military academy in Britain and grew up believing he would be a soldier. Back home, he hunted down terrorists and modernized Jordan's Special Forces. Then, suddenly, he found himself king. Together with his wife, Queen Rania, he transformed what it meant to be a monarch, going undercover to escape the bubble of the court while she became the Muslim world's most passionate advocate of women's rights.
In this exceptionally candid memoir, King Abdullah tackles the single toughest issue he faces head-on- how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian standoff- and reveals himself to be an invaluable intermediary between America and the Arab world. He writes about the impact of the Iraq war on his neighborhood and how best to tackle Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Why would a sitting head of state choose to write about the most explosive issues he faces? King Abdullah does so now because he believes we face a moment of truth: a last chance for peace in the Middle East. The prize is enormous, the cost of failure far greater than we dare imagine.
message 60:
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(last edited Apr 17, 2017 07:00PM)
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By KATIE ZEZIMAMARCH 1, 2006
DEERFIELD, Mass. — Deerfield Academy, with its brick buildings, blazing maples, jacket and tie requirements and powerful graduates, is the quintessential New England boarding school. Soon, it will see its reflection in an unlikely place, outside Madaba, Jordan.
Deerfield officials are helping to establish King's Academy, the Middle East's first coeducational boarding school, at the request of King Abdullah II of Jordan, who graduated from Deerfield in 1980.
"The idea is to transfer the American-style boarding school to Jordan," said Safwan Masri, a professor at Columbia Business School and chairman of the new academy's board. "We want to bring the best of American education and create a school like no other in the region, one focused on preparing leaders, both men and women, in the public and private sectors."
Construction started in 2004, and the academy is scheduled to open in the fall of 2007. Faculty members will be hired in the coming months.
The academy will have space for 600 students in grades 9 to 12, almost all from the Middle East. The school's annual budget dedicates 15 percent to scholarships, based both on academics and financial need.
The academy and Deerfield will be independent of each other, but there are plans to start an exchange program. Deerfield teachers and administrators are advising in the start-up, and in June, Deerfield's headmaster, Eric Widmer, is to leave his post to become headmaster of King's.
Like Deerfield, King's will have small classes, competitive athletics and family-style meals. English will be the primary language of instruction, and the curriculum will be governed by the requirements of the American advanced placement system.
Dr. Masri said research showed an interest among wealthier Middle Easterners for a school like King's; only Turkey has a similar institution. Many parents in the region, he said, send their children to the United States or Europe for high school.
Academy officials plan to send recruiters across the region to identify promising students, including those in Palestinian refugee camps and small villages.
Although the academy will have an American flavor, Dr. Widmer acknowledged that it would "need to represent the culture and tradition of the Middle East."
To that end, all freshmen will be required to take a year of religion, at least one semester of which will be centered on Islam. The customary junior-year course in American history will be replaced with Middle Eastern history. Koranic studies will be offered to juniors and seniors, and Arabic, while not required, will be offered to all students.
The school will also have an interreligious King Abdullah Spiritual Center, which, Dr. Widmer said, will actively recruit Israelis.
The campus is on 150 acres, and like Deerfield will contain swaths of greenspace, boys' and girls' dorms with single bedrooms, and a large common dining area. The maples at Deerfield will give way to palm trees, brick to stucco, and chapel to a mosque. The buildings will be in the Levantine style, with red tile roofs and wooden balconies. The boys' and girls' dorms will be a good distance from one another.
The academy began a $100 million capital campaign in 2004, and more than $50 million in cash and pledges has been raised, Dr. Masri said. Construction and start-up costs are estimated at $65 million, he said, and the board is hoping to raise more money for an endowment, scholarships, faculty chairs and other expenses.
Officials admit that the notion of a coeducational boarding school is likely to make many residents of the region uncomfortable. Officials also expect many parents to be concerned about security, especially in light of the suicide bombings that killed more than 80 people in Amman in November. While the security plan is not yet fully devised, the academy will be enclosed by a large wall, and security officers will constantly be on campus.
Note: It has been up and running for quite a few years - and the King has done a great job:
https://www.kingsacademy.edu.jo
message 61:
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(last edited Apr 17, 2017 07:23PM)
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Check out the series called Turning Points in Middle Eastern History. It will help with the timeline.
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https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
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Tom HollandSynopsis:
The acclaimed author of Rubicon and other superb works of popular history now produces a thrillingly panoramic (and incredibly timely) account of the rise of Islam.
No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion—except that they achieved their conquests not over the course of centuries as the Romans did but in a matter of decades. Just like the Greeks during the Persian wars, they overcame seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day—not by standing on the defensive, however, but by hurling themselves against all who lay in their path.
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Joby WarrickSynopsis:
A stunning narrative account of the mysterious Jordanian who penetrated both the inner circle of al-Qaeda and the highest reaches of the CIA, with a devastating impact on the war on terror.
In December 2009, a group of the CIA’s top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Khost, Afghanistan, to greet a rising superspy: Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double-agent who infiltrated the upper ranks of al-Qaeda. For months, he had sent shocking revelations from inside the terrorist network and now promised to help the CIA assassinate Osama bin Laden’s top deputy. Instead, as he stepped from his car, he detonated a thirty-pound bomb strapped to his chest, instantly killing seven CIA operatives, the agency’s worst loss of life in decades.
In The Triple Agent, Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Joby Warrick takes us deep inside the CIA’s secret war against al-Qaeda, a war that pits robotic planes and laser-guided missiles against a cunning enemy intent on unleashing carnage in American cities. Flitting precariously between the two sides was Balawi, a young man with extraordinary gifts who managed to win the confidence of hardened terrorists as well as veteran spymasters. With his breathtaking accounts from inside al-Qaeda’s lair, Balawi appeared poised to become America’s greatest double-agent in half a century—but he was not at all what he seemed. Combining the powerful momentum of Black Hawk Down with the institutional insight of Jane Mayer’s The Dark Side, Warrick takes the readers on a harrowing journey from the slums of Amman to the inner chambers of the White House in an untold true story of miscalculation, deception, and revenge.
message 66:
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(last edited Apr 18, 2017 09:22AM)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubL3Q...
More:
Bill Maher in discussion:
https://youtu.be/KEd2tHazZGY
Ben Affleck, Sam Harris and Bill Maher Debate Radical Islam | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
https://youtu.be/vln9D81eO60
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Sam HarrisSynopsis:
For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris’s new book is a guide to meditation as a rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology.
From multiple New York Times bestselling author, neuroscientist, and “new atheist” Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds. Throughout the book, Harris argues that there are important truths to be found in the experiences of such contemplatives—and, therefore, that there is more to understanding reality than science and secular culture generally allow.
Waking Up is part seeker’s memoir and part exploration of the scientific underpinnings of spirituality. No other book marries contemplative wisdom and modern science in this way, and no author other than Sam Harris—a scientist, philosopher, and famous skeptic—could write it.
Source: Youtube
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Sam HarrisSynopsis:
In this deeply informed and absorbing exchange, Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz present an antidote to the polarizing rhetoric and obscurantism that have become defining features of our time: honest dialogue. A renowned critic of religion, Harris finds the doctrines of Islam dangerous and irredeemable. No, the Muslim anti-extremist Nawaz argues, Islam is amenable to reform and can find its place in a secular world. Rather than devolve into bigotry or caricature, their exchange presents an inspiring example of courteous attention, sharp-edged wisdom, and finally hope.
A former member of the Islamist revolutionary group Hizb ut-Tahrir, author of Radical, and cofounder of the anti-extremist think tank Quilliam, Nawaz speaks with unique authority about the possibility of Islamic reform. Since the 2004 publication of The End of Faith, Harris has critiqued religion and asserted that reason and science are the true guardians of our deepest human values. Islam and the Future of Tolerance is an exemplar of how the fog can lift when hyperbole and posturing are put aside in pursuit of understanding.
Guided by a mutual commitment to the belief that no idea is above scrutiny and no people beneath dignity, Harris and Nawaz challenge each other, and consequently their readers, to defend incompatible positions, define and explore their facts, and discover common ground. Published with the explicit hope to inspire many more such conversations, this dialogue extends an invitation to a world riven by violence to take up the task of engagement.
message 68:
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(last edited Apr 18, 2017 08:21PM)
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Islam, the Quran, and the Five Pillars: Crash Course World History #13
https://youtu.be/TpcbfxtdoI8
Note Tidbits:
Green explains the political and the religious in this religion coexisted from the very beginning and also because Mohammed was a general so it just has this militaristic sharp edge that other religions created out of love and generosity by humanitarians and sons of god like Jesus and the apostles or Moses and Abraham did not have at the beginning (none of these other prophets or sons of god were generals or were waging war - all of them professed love and also thou shalt not kill) - those religions did not combine the political at their onset!
There is no separate tradition of civic and religious law like there is in Judaism and Christianity. After Mohammed died - he was their prophet - they needed a political leader and that is when the schism started which ended up first with the Sunnis and Shiites.
Abu Bakr took over first - Mohammed's father in law and of course he had his opponents - some wanted Ali (the son in law) and to this day Sunni Muslims think that Abu Bakr was correctly appointed after the death of Mohammed and Shiites do not.
To the Sunnis - the first forth caliphs were known as the rightly guided caliphs; and most of what is going on in terms of the unrest is trying to restore everything to the glory days of these four - and as Green correctly points out - like all glory days - they are not unambiguously glorious (smile).
Abu Bakr was the one who put things in writing after Mohammed's death and then started more military campaigns - the next guy was a good administrator and did the same and was another general but could not avoid assassination - and then finally Ali got his chance but this became controversial once again to the Muslims and once again led to a Civil War among the different sects of Muslims (Sunnis and Shiites) - interestingly none of what was written down was written by Mohammed during his lifetime - it was all man made according to Green after the prophet's death.
According to Green it is true that Islam spread by the sword in the early years and they were good at winning wars. They were primarily conquerors. Of course Green went through everything in 10 minutes and also gave some pluses to some of the contributions that Islam made to the Renaissance. Worth while watching to get the high points.
So you could figure out these names - here they are - caliph means successor so Mohammed was not a caliph - he was their prophet.
Abu Bakr - remember the father in law of Mohammed who created quite the stir by taking over - 632 to 634 CE
Then we have -
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab - 634 - 644 CE
Then we have -
Othman - Ibn - Affan - 644 - 656 CE
Then we have -
Ali Ibn Abi Taleb - 656 - 661 CE - this was the Shiites choice to begin with and he finally became the fourth individual to become caliph.
And this is what some of these groups are trying to go back to - the 7th Century - which they believe these first four Caliphs represent (the glory days) - now remember Mohammed was not a caliph because caliph means successor - Mohammed was their prophet.
One thing that I found noticeable was that none of these caliphs seemed to be caliph very long.
message 69:
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(last edited Apr 18, 2017 10:30AM)
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http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/...
Source: Rolling Stone
More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06...
message 70:
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(last edited Apr 18, 2017 09:17PM)
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In which John Green teaches you about how Islam has interacted with politics during it's history, and how it continues to do so today. Islamist movements are in the news a lot lately, but how did that happen. John will point out that Islam has alway been tied to political movements. Mohammed was not only a religious leader, he led an empire. So how did this lead to modern movements like ISIS? Islam has traditionally been a pretty egalitarian religion, and its scriptures value peace, so it is surprising in a lot of ways that such a violent fundamentalist movement would come out of it. What is a caliphate? What is a Caliph? John will teach you all about it.
Link: https://youtu.be/ka8csjsmX6I
Source: Crashcourse - on Youtube
Note: John Green stated that even under these first four caliphs who were generals and turned Islam into an empire = these were not really the glory days by some of these sects like ISIS want to think of them as such = things were actually quite diverse. But ISIS and some of these other groups want to believe that the 7th century and the time of these four caliphs who were successors to Mohammed were the glory days. They want to believe that this was the time of growth for the empire and it had unity and stability.
But the truth is that even under these four caliphs - the Islamic world was extremely diverse and had huge disagreements.
Remember the short reign that I mentioned before - three of these four caliphs were assassinated. What ISIS is trying to reconstruct is some idealized structure of this state I guess without the history.
According to historian Michael Cook - The Restoration of the Caliphate is a political ideal for many Islamists and for some a political project.
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Islam Explained: Religions in Global History
https://youtu.be/8S_Tw6jA77E
Keith Hughes explains.
Source: Youtube
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https://youtu.be/mt54m3aY2_Q
Source: Youtube and National Geographic
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https://youtu.be/koGZBtQ9gZY
Source: Youtube and The History Channel
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(last edited Apr 18, 2017 09:38PM)
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https://youtu.be/P3O9d7PsI48
For almost 13 centuries, from the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 to the overthrow of the last Ottoman caliph in 1924, the Islamic world was ruled by a caliph.
Translated from the Arabic ‘Khalifa’, the word ‘caliph’ means successor or deputy. The caliph was considered the successor to the Prophet Muhammad.
It is a term that has, at times, been abused.
In June 2014, a militant group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIL or ISIS) declared the establishment of a caliphate and proclaimed its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a caliph. This proclamation was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims.
ISIL had attempted to appropriate a title imbued with religious and political significance – and in doing so had cast a dark shadow over a rich history.
This is the story of the caliph, a title that originated 1,400 years ago and that spanned one of the greatest empires the world has ever known.
In this episode of the Caliph, Al Jazeera tells the story of the caliphate, providing a fascinating insight into how the first caliphs of Islam built and expanded their empire.
The Caliph - Part 2: Division - Featured Documentary
In this episode of The Caliph, Al Jazeera tells the story of the caliphate, looking at the Sunni-Shia divide, and how this split arose from a dispute over who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad.
Link: https://youtu.be/SuplOE5JB4M
The Caliph - Part 3: Decline - Featured Documentary
Al Jazeera tells the story of the 1,300-year-long struggle for the caliphate and looks at how different dynasties rose and fell - ending with the decline of the Ottoman caliphate.
Link: https://youtu.be/GXXSo7WzZsk
Source: Al Jazeera
Note: Each part starts with some of the same statements and then moves into the start of each episode.
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https://youtu.be/oVGieY0W6lY
BBC Two - The Life of Muhammad (Part 2 of 3)
https://youtu.be/lQazfcaalp8
BBC Two - The Life of Muhammad (Part 3 of 3)
https://youtu.be/t5xts-RLSUk
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https://youtu.be/Og7UmpXbdv8
Source: Youtube - The History Channel
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(last edited Apr 21, 2017 06:26PM)
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By LUIS MARTINEZ Apr 21, 2017, 1:21 PM ET
http://abcnews.go.com/International/i...
Source: ABC News
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By Laura Smith-Spark, Saskya Vandoorne and Ray Sanchez, CNN
Updated 8:03 PM ET, Fri April 21, 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/21/europe/...
Source: CNN
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Al-Qaeda's Zawahiri calls for 'guerrilla war' in Syria
Online audio message by Zawahiri calls on opposition to prepare for 'long war against Crusaders and their Shia allies'.
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has called on the armed Syrian opposition to wage guerrilla warfare against the government of Bashar al-Assad and its allies.
In an audio tape titled "Syria will only bow to God", released on the internet on Sunday, Zawahiri urged Syrian rebels to "have patience and prepare themselves for a long war against the Crusaders and their Shia allies".
He urged them to adopt a "guerilla warfare" strategy because it would "weaken and drain the enemy".
The rebels' enemies "are targeting them because they are trying to establish an Islamic rule in Syria, as the West and its allies were doing everything they can to stop it".
Remainder of article:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04...
Source: al Jazeera
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(last edited Apr 25, 2017 08:36PM)
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Deaths of fighters reported as government positions in Golan Heights are targeted for second time in recent days.
Article:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04...
Source: Al Jazeera
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(last edited Apr 26, 2017 09:22AM)
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Aug. 31, 2013
President Obama spoke in the Rose Garden at the White House on Saturday, saying that he would seek Congressional approval for a strike on Syria.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/m...
Source: New York Times
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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/regrets-f...
Source: CBS News
Note: The countries do not want these people back. If they are taken back - they will face prison.
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue (other topics)Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (other topics)
The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA (other topics)
In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire (other topics)
Our Last Best Chance: The Pursuit of Peace in a Time of Peril (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Sam Harris (other topics)Sam Harris (other topics)
Joby Warrick (other topics)
Tom Holland (other topics)
Abdullah II of Jordan (other topics)
More...
http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeye/episo..."
Bentley, tried to fix these but I cannot seem to find the magic combination. Arghhh