October 26, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dramatic-rescue-of-isis-hostages-caught-on-helmet-cam/

CBS/AP
October 25, 2015

Play VIDEO -- First U.S. soldier killed fighting ISIS


IRBIL, Iraq - The Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq released a video Sunday showing the joint raid of a prison by U.S. and Kurdish peshmerga forces in which they released 70 hostages held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS.)

Pentagon officials confirmed the footage's authenticity to CBS News, which can be seen in the above video player.

The helmet camera footage shows the Thursday raid of the prison which was controlled by ISIS militants in the town of Huwija, 9 miles west of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

A line of panicked men in traditional ankle-length garments are seen running past the camera, some with their hands up, as Arabic-speaking men scream at them, "Let's go! Let's go!" Gunfire rings out non-stop in the background. The soldiers as seen walking through a dark room with ISIS' trademark black flag draped on the wall. The rescued hostages are then frisked for weapons and led away.

Officials later said about 20 of the rescued hostages were members of Iraqi security forces.


Army Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Oklahoma, was killed during the raid, officials said. He was the first American to die in combat since the U.S. launched Operation Inherent Resolve last year.

The raid marked the first time U.S. troops were involved in direct ground combat in Iraq since the war against ISIS was launched in August 2014.

U.S. officials said the plan for the rescue mission had called for the U.S. troops, who are members of the elite and secretive Delta Force, to stay back from the prison compound and let the Kurds do the fighting. The Americans transported the Kurds to the scene aboard five U.S. helicopters.

The predawn raid involved 30 U.S. Special Operations Forces, including Delta Force commandos and Kurdish fighters.

The American forces were there to advise and assist, not to be an assault force -- but that role changed when the U.S. troops saw the Kurdish Peshmerga get pinned down in a heavy exchange of fire with ISIS fighters.

"That call was made on the ground," said a U.S. defense official.

It was the first time that Kurdish Peshmerga forces asked for U.S. assistance in a hostage rescue. While they suspected that ISIS had imprisoned some of their fellow Kurds at the prison complex, the commandos were surprised to find that the vast majority of the hostages were Sunni Arab civilians from the local town along with 20 Iraqi security forces.

They also discovered that ISIS held some of their own fighters hostage, accused of being spies and scheduled for execution.

The raid raised questions about President Obama's vow not to put U.S. soldiers into combat in Iraq. But Pentagon Spokesperson Peter Cook said the Special Operations forces were only assisting the Kurdish fighters.

"In that support role, they are allowed to defend themselves and also defend partner forces and to protect against the loss of innocent life," Cook said.

When asked whether the raid justified the loss of an American life, defense officials said that they did save the lives of the hostages and also collected valuable intelligence.

The rescue was launched after U.S. intelligence saw evidence of mass graves being dug inside the walls of the prison compound. Some of the freed hostages told U.S. officials ISIS had told them they would all be killed after their morning prayers.




CBS -- “A line of panicked men in traditional ankle-length garments are seen running past the camera, some with their hands up, as Arabic-speaking men scream at them, "Let's go! Let's go!" Gunfire rings out non-stop in the background. The soldiers as seen walking through a dark room with ISIS' trademark black flag draped on the wall. The rescued hostages are then frisked for weapons and led away. Officials later said about 20 of the rescued hostages were members of Iraqi security forces. …. Army Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Oklahoma, was killed during the raid, officials said. He was the first American to die in combat since the U.S. launched Operation Inherent Resolve last year. The raid marked the first time U.S. troops were involved in direct ground combat in Iraq since the war against ISIS was launched in August 2014. …. The predawn raid involved 30 U.S. Special Operations Forces, including Delta Force commandos and Kurdish fighters. The American forces were there to advise and assist, not to be an assault force -- but that role changed when the U.S. troops saw the Kurdish Peshmerga get pinned down in a heavy exchange of fire with ISIS fighters. "That call was made on the ground," said a U.S. defense official. It was the first time that Kurdish Peshmerga forces asked for U.S. assistance in a hostage rescue. …. "In that support role, they are allowed to defend themselves and also defend partner forces and to protect against the loss of innocent life," Cook said. When asked whether the raid justified the loss of an American life, defense officials said that they did save the lives of the hostages and also collected valuable intelligence. The rescue was launched after U.S. intelligence saw evidence of mass graves being dug inside the walls of the prison compound.”


I am glad to see that US troops may defend their Kurdish allies in ground fighting, at least. They have been very helpful to us, and they deserve international support, such as acknowledgment as a Nation and a position in the UN. We have some say about what happens in Iraqi territory I would think, if not in Syria, and Iraq in particular owes them a debt of gratitude for protecting Iraq against ISIS. This article is good news, that the “bad guys” have lost at least this battle





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kerry-continues-push-to-ease-israeli-palestinian-tensions/

Kerry: Israel, Jordan agree on steps to easy holy site tensions
AP October 24, 2015

Photograph -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah at the Royal palace in Amman, Jordan, October 24, 2015. © POOL NEW / REUTERS, REUTERS


AMMAN, Jordan - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that Israel and Jordan have agreed on steps aimed at reducing tensions at a holy site in Jerusalem that have fanned Israeli-Palestinian violence.

"All the violence and the incitement to violence must stop. Leaders must lead," Kerry told reporters in the Jordanian capital after meeting with King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

The top U.S. diplomat said the steps include round-the-clock video monitoring and Israel's reaffirming of Jordan's special and historic role as custodian of the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif.

The king suggested that monitoring, according to Kerry, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted.

Israel has pledged to maintain the rules of worship at the site, and Israeli and Jordanian authorities will meet about bolstering security, Kerry said.

Kerry, who met with Netanyahu in Berlin on Thursday, said the leaders "expressed their strong commitment to ending the violence and restoring the calm as soon as possible."

"I hope that based on these conversations we can finally put to rest some of the false assumptions, perceptions" about the holy site, Kerry said. "Those perceptions are stoking the tensions and fueling the violence and it is important for us to end the provocative rhetoric and start to change the public narrative that comes out of those false perceptions."

Outlining the series of understandings, Kerry said:

-Israel will continue to enforce its policy of religious worship, including "the fundamental fact" that it is Muslims who pray there and non-Muslims who visit.

-Israel has no intention of dividing the site and rejects any attempt to suggest otherwise.

-Israel welcomes increased coordination between Israeli authorities and Jordan to ensure that visitors and worshippers "demonstrate respect and restraint."

Noting the video monitoring, Kerry said it would provide "comprehensive visibility and transparency, and that could really be a game-changer in discouraging anybody from disturbing the sanctity of this holy site."

On Friday, Israel lifted restrictions on Muslim worshippers after having barred younger Muslim men - seen by police as the main potential trouble-makers - from entering the compound on Fridays, the main day of prayer in the Muslim religious week.

The bans had, at times, targeted men up to the age of 50 and fueled Palestinian fears that Israel was trying to change long-standing understandings under which Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray, at the shrine.

Those fears have also been fueled by a rise in visits to the shrine by Jewish activists demanding prayer rights, including senior members of Netanyahu's coalition government.

Israel has repeatedly denied Palestinian allegations that it is trying to change the status quo and accused Palestinian political and religious leaders of lying and inciting to violence.

In the meetings with Abdullah, Abbas and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, and earlier with Netanyahu, Kerry explored ways to address the violence that began in mid-September initially at the shrine, but has spread to the rest of Jerusalem, as well as the West Bank and Gaza strip.

In the past five weeks, 10 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings, while 49 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, including 28 said by Israel to be attackers and the rest in clashes.

On Saturday, Israeli forces shot a knife-wielding Palestinian dead after he ran toward a crossing between Israel and the West Bank and tried to stab security personnel, the Israeli military said.

Describing what he has heard in the talks with the leaders, Kerry said that "all of them expressed their strong commitment to ending the violence and restoring the calm as soon as possible."

He said the U.S. "strongly condemns terrorist attacks against innocent civilians. There is absolutely no justification for these reprehensible attacks."

He added: "It is important to stop the back and forth of language that gives anybody an excuse to somehow be misinterpreted or misguided into believing that violence is a viable option.




CBS -- "All the violence and the incitement to violence must stop. Leaders must lead," Kerry told reporters in the Jordanian capital after meeting with King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. The top U.S. diplomat said the steps include round-the-clock video monitoring and Israel's reaffirming of Jordan's special and historic role as custodian of the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif. The king suggested that monitoring, according to Kerry, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted. …. The bans had, at times, targeted men up to the age of 50 and fueled Palestinian fears that Israel was trying to change long-standing understandings under which Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray, at the shrine. Those fears have also been fueled by a rise in visits to the shrine by Jewish activists demanding prayer rights, including senior members of Netanyahu's coalition government. Israel has repeatedly denied Palestinian allegations that it is trying to change the status quo and accused Palestinian political and religious leaders of lying and inciting to violence. In the meetings with Abdullah, Abbas and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, and earlier with Netanyahu, Kerry explored ways to address the violence that began in mid-September initially at the shrine, but has spread to the rest of Jerusalem, as well as the West Bank and Gaza strip.”


So Netanyahu is pushing again, this time for “prayer rights,” and Palestinian/Jordanians are randomly assassinating Israelis. It’s all deeply wrong on both sides, and meanwhile whoever is the US ambassador will have to speak against terroristic responses over grievances. I even agree that we should do that because those brutal attacks are insufferable. We, however, should speak out on the worldwide stage against the rightist moves of Netanyahu as well. Unfortunately, the Israeli people did reelect him recently, so the moderates there are not strong enough to put Israel on a path toward peace. Too bad.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-russia-discuss-organizing-syria-political-process/

U.S., Russia discuss organizing Syria political process
AP October 24, 2015

Photograph -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shake hands during a photo a photo opportunity in Vienna, October 23, 2015. © CARLO ALLEGRI / REUTERS, REUTERS
Play VIDEO -- Flash Points: What can the U.S. expect from Putin in Syria?


DAMASCUS, Syria - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday discussed ways of organizing a political process between the Syrian government and its opponents, a day after the two met in Vienna along with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the Russian foreign ministry said.

The top diplomats from the four countries put forward new ideas to revive a failed push for a political transition in Syria that would end the country's civil war, Kerry said after Friday's meeting. But they remained deeply divided over the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The follow-up telephone discussion between Lavrov and Kerry was initiated by Kerry, the Russian foreign ministry said.

Separately, Lavrov said Saturday that Russia was ready to support the Free Syrian Army in its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The Free Syrian Army is the main Western-backed opposition group fighting Assad.

"We are ready to include the patriotic opposition, among them the Free Syrian Army, to support them from the air," he said in an interview aired Saturday on state television channel Rossiya-1.

But he said the Americans would not give Moscow the locations of the opposition group and the locations of terrorist groups. He said the U.S. was refusing to coordinate their anti-terrorist campaign in Syria, calling it a "big mistake."

"We are ready for such coordination as thoroughly as possible," he said.

Syria is in its fifth year of a civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands, spurred a massive refugee crisis in Europe and led to the emergence of the Islamic State group and Russia's direct military intervention.

Russia says it is targeting ISIS and other terrorists in Syria, but most of the Russian airstrikes have focused on areas where the militants do not have an active presence.

Syria's parliament speaker said Saturday that Syria, along with its allies Russia and Iran, is working to push forward a political solution in parallel with the fight against terrorism on the ground, by activating dialogue with the "national opposition" that rejects foreign intervention in Syria's internal affairs.

The comments by Jihad al-Laham came during a meeting in Damascus with a visiting Russian parliamentary delegation. He said Syrian-Russian coordination "has started achieving results" by driving out terrorism.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said Saturday it had mistakenly sent hundreds of boxes of expired biscuits to besieged civilians in rebel-held areas near Damascus as part of a relief convoy earlier this month.

A total of 320 out of 650 boxes of high energy biscuits sent to Zabadani and Madaya on Oct. 18 had expired a month earlier.

"We can confirm that this was the result of an unfortunate human error during the loading process," Yacoub El Hillo, the U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, said in a statement Saturday.

He said the U.N. Syria team is taking the issue "very seriously" and working with its humanitarian partners to rectify the situation, but added that medical sources had confirmed that eating the expired biscuits would pose no health threats.

The aid convoy that went into Zabadani and Madaya was a rare instance of assistance reaching besieged areas near Damascus during a cease-fire between Syrian government forces and their allies and insurgents.

The U.N. statement came after concerns were raised that children consuming the expired biscuits could become sick.

El Hillo said the U.N. has sent a request to all parties involved, including the Syrian government, to facilitate immediate access to the areas to replace the biscuits and allow medical personnel to examine and treat potential patients.

Meanwhile, World Health Organization officials said no new polio cases have been reported in the Middle East for more than 18 months despite continuing conflict, declining immunization rates and mass population displacement, leading experts to believe an outbreak has been successfully halted.

The outbreak which officials say paralyzed 36 children in Syria and two in Iraq between October 2013 and April 2014 prompted fears of a major epidemic and was followed by the largest ever immunization response in the history of the Middle East.




CBS -- “The top diplomats from the four countries put forward new ideas to revive a failed push for a political transition in Syria that would end the country's civil war, Kerry said after Friday's meeting. But they remained deeply divided over the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad. …. "We are ready to include the patriotic opposition, among them the Free Syrian Army, to support them from the air," he said in an interview aired Saturday on state television channel Rossiya-1. But he said the Americans would not give Moscow the locations of the opposition group and the locations of terrorist groups. He said the U.S. was refusing to coordinate their anti-terrorist campaign in Syria, calling it a "big mistake." "We are ready for such coordination as thoroughly as possible," he said. …. Syria's parliament speaker said Saturday that Syria, along with its allies Russia and Iran, is working to push forward a political solution in parallel with the fight against terrorism on the ground, by activating dialogue with the "national opposition" that rejects foreign intervention in Syria's internal affairs. The comments by Jihad al-Laham came during a meeting in Damascus with a visiting Russian parliamentary delegation. He said Syrian-Russian coordination "has started achieving results" by driving out terrorism.”


I believe Putin is smart enough to know that ISIS is a threat to all Western powers, and if Russians remember their war in Afghanistan they will not assume that some free weapons will win over the hearts and minds of Islamic tribal people. I think that it is in their interests to bomb ISIS and send in ground troops as they claim they mean to, despite the fact that they are calling the anti-Assad forces “terrorists.” ISIS really is a “terrorist” organization, and as Putin said cogently a few weeks back, he wants to fight them in the Middle East, not in Russia. I think he will come around.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-director-cellphone-cameras-may-partly-explain-rise-in-violent-crime/

FBI director: Cellphone cameras may partly explain rise in violent crime
AP October 24, 2015

Photograph -- Director of the FBI James Comey testifies to the House Judiciary Committee during an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington October 22, 2015. © JOSHUA ROBERTS / REUTERS, REUTERS


CHICAGO - Police anxiety in the era of ever-present cellphone cameras and viral videos partly explains why violent crime has risen in several large U.S. cities this year, FBI Director James Comey said Friday.

Comey told several hundred students during a forum at the University of Chicago Law School that it's critical to do more to address a widening gulf between law enforcement and citizens in many communities, particularly African-Americans.

He said while there likely are multiple factors behind the spike in violence in cities, including Chicago, officers and others nationwide have told him they see "the era of viral videos" as a link.

"I don't know whether this explains it entirely, but I do have a strong sense that some part of the explanation is a chill wind blowing through American law enforcement over the last year, and that wind is surely changing behavior," Comey said.

He added that some of the behavioral change in police officers has been for the good "as we continue to have important discussions about police conduct and de-escalation and the use of deadly force."

Comey likened the strain between law enforcement and local communities to two lines diverging, saying repeatedly that authorities must continue to work at improving their relationships with citizens. But he added: "I actually feel the lines continuing to arc away from each other, incident by incident, video by video."

Most of the country's 50 largest cities have seen an increase in shootings and killings, he said, citing Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas and others. In Washington, D.C., he said homicides are up more than 20 percent. And he added that Baltimore is averaging more than one homicide a day - a rate higher than New York City, which has 13 times the people.

"Why is it happening ... all over and all of a sudden?" he asked. "I've heard a lot of theories - reasonable theories."

He suggested other factors, including the availability of cheaper heroin, guns getting into the wrong hands for wrongdoing, and street gangs becoming smaller and more territorial.

But he said his conversations with officers often come back to cellphones. He said they describe encounters with young people and their cellphone cameras "taunting" them "the moment they get out of their cars."

"They told me, 'We feel like we're under siege and we don't feel much like getting out of our cars,'" Comey said.

He said he has been told about higher-ranking police telling officers "to remember that their political leadership has no tolerance for a viral video."

A spokesman for the ACLU of Illinois, Ed Yohnka, said later Friday he disagreed with Comey's assessment.

"Police officers who respect civilians and the law will only enhance the reputation of their departments when recorded by civilians," Yohnka said. "And officers should be trained to conduct themselves with professionalism regardless of whether a camera is recording them.




CBS -- “Comey told several hundred students during a forum at the University of Chicago Law School that it's critical to do more to address a widening gulf between law enforcement and citizens in many communities, particularly African-Americans. He said while there likely are multiple factors behind the spike in violence in cities, including Chicago, officers and others nationwide have told him they see "the era of viral videos" as a link. …. But he said his conversations with officers often come back to cellphones. He said they describe encounters with young people and their cellphone cameras "taunting" them "the moment they get out of their cars." "They told me, 'We feel like we're under siege and we don't feel much like getting out of our cars,'" Comey said. He said he has been told about higher-ranking police telling officers "to remember that their political leadership has no tolerance for a viral video." A spokesman for the ACLU of Illinois, Ed Yohnka, said later Friday he disagreed with Comey's assessment. "Police officers who respect civilians and the law will only enhance the reputation of their departments when recorded by civilians," Yohnka said. "And officers should be trained to conduct themselves with professionalism regardless of whether a camera is recording them.”


It is one of the characteristics of a certain kind of young person to “taunt” whomever they have decided is vulnerable. They’re bullies and often gang members. They may consider the police -- who now are supposed to use a body cam and refrain from unnecessary beating, “punishing,” or even shooting suspects -- to be vulnerable to silent lens of the ubiquitous cell phone camera and viral video.

I don’t believe that makes the incidence of murder go up, however. Not unless the police, when taunted, commit murder, and I’m sure that was not the intention of the statement. That looks like a non-sequitur to me. His point seems to be that police are now holding back on confronting suspects because they are afraid of bad publicity. That’s unfortunate, but the wonders of the Internet and the cell phone camera are out of Pandora’s Box for good and will never be put back in again. The way people think and act is going to have to change. The fact is, policemen who formerly did bad things, undoubtedly expecting to get away with it, have been caught lately in the act of using unprofessional to extremely violent behavior, sometimes seemingly for fun. It has indeed made them look bad, but they should accept that as the justice that it is and change their tactics.

Yes, police need to make moves to decrease the cultural distance between officers and neighborhoods, often in an atmosphere of racial/cultural distrust and hatred. They need to stop complaining about the body cameras, and rather conduct themselves in a way that they won’t fear will incriminate them in a viral video. They also need to learn and actively use verbal and non-lethal restraint methods whenever possible; refrain from kneejerk decision-making such as shooting every suspect who runs (they aren’t necessarily guilty of anything, but often are merely afraid); give weekly volunteer time to groups in the area who mentor at-risk young people who are tending to join a gang or do other highly mischievous things; go to community meetings to become involved in the life of the neighborhood, saying more at those meetings than merely that everybody should immediately and completely “comply with orders”; stop the practices of issuing a ticket with an often large fine attached for very minor things (a broken taillight) (I’ve been stopped several times for a broken tail light and have never received more than a warning); and stop approaching community members with an attitude of overt aggression. They also need to make a great effort to avoid a shooting or any other violence (like a “rough ride” in the police van or an illegal and dangerous choke hold –– over the selling of loose cigarettes). Just don’t do those things, and then nobody can take your picture while you’re doing them.

If they do improve in those things, the people of minority and poor neighborhoods will gradually, one by one lighten up in how they REACT to cops. They will become less likely to run or fight or, worse still, shoot them while they’re asleep as in one incident this year. One interesting thing that some cities have done is to move police officers into homes or apartments in the neighborhoods in question, so that they all become known to each other as human beings rather than faceless authority figures or faceless despicable minorities. Black people need to get to know white cops as human beings and vice versa so that it becomes “Hello, Ms Daisy,” etc. Most people, even in poor neighborhoods, are basically good hearted and can be brought around to a positive position rather than the present day highly hostile one.

I look forward to a deeply-seated change from the extremely negative reactions on both sides since Ferguson hit the news, to one of much greater cooperation, positivity and hopefulness. The cops too frequently try to “control” the interaction with an initial show of aggression -- choosing intimidation as their only course -- rather than opening up their hearts and minds to the high possibility that a person who happens to be walking down the street at night is not a villain of any kind, but is simply going to the store for some tea and skittles.