Professor Brian Cox, the rock star turned scientist, is an unlikely defender of the faith. But in a Telegraph interview today, the physicist and distinguished supporter of the British Humanist Association said: “there is naivety in just saying there’s no God”.

Cox was speaking about his latest series, The Human Universe, which begins on BBC Two this evening. In it he asks questions about man’s existence: Why are we here? How did the universe make us? Are we alone? What is our future?

When Cox was asked how religion fits into his understanding of the Universe, he said: “It doesn’t at all. I honestly don’t think about religion until someone asks me about it.”

Cox explained that the reason for this is that science is about asking small questions, rather than grand theorising. The answers to big questions come “almost accidentally” he said.

Although Cox said that he believed there was scientific proof that there isn’t an afterlife, he added: “Philosophers would rightly point out that physicists making bland and sweeping statements is naive.

“There is naivety in just saying there’s no God; it’s b******s,” he said. “People have thought about this. People like Leibniz and Kant. They’re not idiots. So you’ve got to at least address that.”

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/prof.brian.cox.its.naive.to.say.that.theres.no.god/41370.htm

A former Catholic bishop of Hong Kong has warned of China’s growing influence and urged Christians to unite in the “fight” for democracy.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, who at 82 is one of the oldest campaigners to have joined the Occupy Central movement for democracy in the recent mobile-phone torchlit protests in the streets, warned that China’s influence is increasing “day by day”. He said Christians must be prepared to battle for their beliefs if religious freedom in the former British territory is not to become a thing of the past.

The cardinal, who served as bishop between 2002 and 2009 and has been active in the pro-democracy movement for decades, said: “Beijing are taking more and more control of Hong Kong, and going back on the promises of the constitution.

“All of these efforts, all of this courage to take risks and be ready to pay the price is because we are fighting for something very important. If [the Hong Kong leader is chosen by Beijing]…then he will surely do anything that the central authority commands.”

The Cardinal added that “the Communist party have no interest other than their own power, and they made whole people into slaves.”

The protestors are angry at the Chinese government’s insistence on screening political candidates to ensure their allegiance to the CCP.

It was hoped that open elections would be held in 2017, but a motion ruling against this was passed in August. Many locals believe this to contradict Beijing’s promise to one day allow Hong Kong “universal suffrage”.

Cardinal Zen spent days addressing the crowds, many of them students, and spent nights sleeping on the streets in the hopes of making the voice of the people of Hong Kong heard.
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun speaking in London in 2006

“Beijing are taking more and more control of Hong Kong, and going back on the promises of the constitution,” he told Christian Today.

“All of these efforts, all of this courage to take risks and be ready to pay the price is because we are fighting for something very important. If [the Hong Kong leader is chosen by Beijing]…then he will surely do anything that the central authority commands.

“And [the CCP] are also corrupt, not only in the sense of bribery, but they also corrupt the culture, the way of life – people become materialistic, selfish, dishonest and ready to accept slavery,” he said.

“Everybody becomes desperate in their own field. This terrible culture is against what we have instilled here in Hong Kong in our education and in our schools. And in the long run, sooner or later – or very soon – we are going to become like in China, and that is terrible.”

Cardinal Zen, who was Shanghai born but moved to Hong Kong ahead of the CCP’s establishment in 1949, believes speaking out for democracy and freedom is a vital part of his Catholic faith, as well as his position in leadership.

“This is in the teaching of the church; the social teaching says that the participation of people is important,” he said.

“Because we care for human dignity, we are children of God and we can’t be made into slaves: that is the reason we must fight.”

This week the Occupy Central movement has appeared to be on the wane, with just a few hundred protestors – most of them students – remaining, and leaders said last night that they had agreed to hold talks with the government.

Cardinal Zen called on those still demonstrating to go home, but not to give up.

“At this moment, the students should retreat, because to retreat doesn’t mean to abandon the cause,” he explained.
Related

Social transformation and the love of God: The power of Christian protest
Hong Kong: Why crackdown on protestors could turn violent
‘Prayer must be our loudest response’. Churches respond to pro-democracy rallies in Hong Kong
Hong Kong: Baptist ministers, Cardinals and Christian students at the forefront of protests for free democracy

“We have made the point, and we may still make our demands but we must rest a little…There is no way to reason with people who are simply unreasonable; we have to gather and think about the next steps. I think at this moment, one important thing is that we must understand that this movement does not belong to the students anymore, and nor does it belong to the promoters of the Occupy Central movement, but it belongs to the whole people.

“There should be a wider consultation, a commission, and then our voice will be stronger and we can make plans,” he said.

“For the moment, the battle is going to be long and we must be wise.”

The Cardinal’s main concern remains freedom of religion in Hong Kong, which hangs in the balance as Beijing makes its bid for power clear.

“At this moment, they have already taken away from the Church our right to run our schools. The next step maybe is to demand heavy taxes from churches, and then it will be the same as China. It is not at all impossible, and we are to fight now before it’s too late,” he said.

“It’s very dangerous, every day Beijing increases its influence. It’s already too late maybe, but at least now finally the people have awakened – the whole people are with us.”

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/former.bishop.of.hong.kong.we.must.fight.now.before.its.too.late/41389.htm

ISIS Militants Come To Europe And America Disguised As Refugees

Muslim terrorists love to deceive. During the last Israel-Hamas conflict, you had Hamas “soldiers” dressing up like women and firing rockets from inside of active hospitals and children’s schools. In Syria now, they are mixing in with the people that they have made war refugees and sneaking into various European countries with the plan of carrying out terror attacks once there. In America, they are coming in through Obama’s open door on the US – Mexico border, to carry out attacks here on our shores. That’s why Obama refuses to seal our border, he wants it to be open so we can aid the poor, impoverished “Mexicans”. Dark days indeed.

Islamic State militants are planning to insert operatives into Western Europe disguised as refugees, claim US intelligence sources, who unencrypted locked communications of the caliphate’s leadership. The militant organization is afraid of using aircraft due to strict security rules, so they use land as an alternative, the US sources told Bild Am Sonntag, a German national Sunday newspaper.
isis-militants-sneaking-into-europe-disguised-as-syrian-war-refugees-isil

“In view of the chaotic conditions on the Syria-Turkey border, it is nearly impossible to catch ISIS-terrorists in the wave of refugees,” wrote Bild Am Sonntag.

Disguised as refugees from Syria, Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) operatives will cross the border to Turkey. Then, using fake passports, they will travel further to European countries to conduct attacks.

Because hundreds of refugees cross the Syrian-Turkish border every day, the jihadists have a good chance of remaining unnoticed in the crowds.

Turkey is also used by jihadists who want to join the IS in Syria, as they don’t need a visa to get there. They go on ‘vacations’ as tourists and upon arrival have almost no trouble finding a way to cross the border.

According to one of Iraq’s foremost security experts with unique access to intelligence, at least 100,000 jihadists were fighting in the ranks of the IS in August.

There are some 15,000 foreign fighters from the IS in Syria alone, including 2,000 Westerners, a US intelligence official told AFP in September.

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12

A definitive 20-year study into the effects of long-term cannabis use has demolished the argument that the drug is safe. Cannabis is highly addictive, causes mental health problems and opens the door to hard drugs, the study found.

The paper by Professor Wayne Hall, a drugs advisor to the World Health Organisation, builds a compelling case against those who deny the devastation cannabis wreaks on the brain. Professor Hall found:

One in six teenagers who regularly smoke the drug become dependent on it,
Cannabis doubles the risk of developing psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia,
Cannabis users do worse at school. Heavy use in adolescence appears to impair intellectual development
One in ten adults who regularly smoke the drug become dependent on it and those who use it are more likely to go on to use harder drugs,
Driving after smoking cannabis doubles the risk of a car crash, a risk which increases substantially if the driver has also had a drink,
Smoking it while pregnant reduces the baby’s birth weight.

Last night Professor Hall, a professor of addiction policy at King’s College London, dismissed the views of those who say that cannabis is harmless.

‘If cannabis is not addictive then neither is heroin or alcohol,’ he said‘It is often harder to get people who are dependent on cannabis through withdrawal than for heroin – we just don’t know how to do it.’

Those who try to stop taking cannabis often suffer anxiety, insomnia, appetite disturbance and depression, he found. Even after treatment, less than half can stay off the drug for six months.

3,000-year-old Bible mystery anticipates stock collapse?

NEW YORK – Is it possible that a 3,000 year-old text warns of a major crash of the U.S. stock market next month?

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, author of the New York Times bestselling book “The Harbinger,” has written a sequel, “The Mystery of the Shemitah,” in which he documents a historical cycle he believes portends a painful stock-market collapse that would mark the beginning of a major economic decline.

The Shemitah, or sabbath year, is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the land of Israel.

mystery-of-the-shemitahCahn’s warning comes as savvy investors such as Warren Buffett dump stocks of companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods, complaining of “disappointing performance.” Meanwhile, fellow billionaire John Paulson, who made his fortune betting on the subprime market meltdown, is dumping stocks from his hedge fund, Paulson & Co. He has shedded 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase and dumped his entire stock investment in discount retailer Family Dollar and consumer-goods maker Sara Lee.

The widely read financial blog ZeroHedge.com adds to the list of billionaire investors preparing for a market crash, including Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments; George Soros; and Carl Ichan.

Cahn writes of market collapses as the “ancient mystery moves cross the globe,” from the New York Stock Exchange to major exchanges worldwide, “in one vast colossal Shemitah, nullifying, canceling, wiping clean and transforming the financial realms of nations.”

“Shemitah” also just reached the New York Times Best Seller list, placing it at 6th, just about a week after release.

If you haven’t read “The Harbinger” or seen “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment” yet, now is the time to catch up on the groundbreaking spiritual detective work of Jonathan Cahn.

It would wipe out a stock-market boom fueled by debt as a consequence of the Federal Reserve’s policy of Quantitative Easing, in which it has bought trillions of dollars of U.S. Treasury debt since the end of the George W. Bush administration.

WND has repeatedly reported that a major stock-market downward correction becomes more likely if interest rates rise as the Federal Reserve “tapers” QE borrowing with a plan to end all Fed purchases of Treasury debt by the end of the year.
Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

“The majority of the greatest point crashes in [stock-market] history just happen to take place in a very small period of time that comes around once in seven years, which also just happens to be on the same biblical calendar for manifesting the massive financial repercussions of the seventh year,” Cahn warns.

Cahn advances his investigation by correlating a series of stock-market charts dating back to the stock-market collapse in 1973 under President Jimmy Carter with the biblical seven-year cycle, arguing it is more than coincidence.

He concludes:

The greatest financial turning points, peaks and long-term collapses of the past 40 years have taken place within the biblical Year of the Shemitah or its autumn wake.
When there has been both a financial collapse and an economic recession, the period connecting their starting points has fallen within the biblical Shemitah 100 percent of the time.
Thus, from the 40-year period beginning in 1973, every single one of the five greatest financial and economic peaks and collapses have taken place according to the set time of the Shemitah.

Cahn begins to decipher the 3,000-year-old mystery by applying the biblical admonition to keep the Sabbath a holy day reserved to prayer and worshiping God not only on the seventh day of the week – traditionally observed on Saturday in the Jewish calendar, beginning at sundown Friday – but also the seventh year in a cycle.

“During the Sabbath year, the people of Israel were to leave their fields, vineyards and groves for the poor,” Cahn notes.

“For the duration of the year the land belonged, in effect, to everyone. And whatever grew of its own accord was called hefker, meaning ‘without an owner.’ So during the Sabbath year the land, in effect, belonged to everyone and to no one at the same time.”

Cahn elucidates a biblical admonition that the last day of the Sabbath year a sweeping transformation took place in ancient Israel in which everyone who owned a debt was released and the nation’s financial accounts were wiped clean in what amounted to “Israel’s day of nullification and remission.”

He pointed out the original Hebrew command ordains that every creditor should “make a Shemitah,” which translates as a command to “grant a release.”

“The word Shemitah is most often translated as ‘the release’ or ‘the remission,’” he writes.

“The idea of a nation ceasing all work on its land for an entire year is a radical proposition. No less radical is the idea of a day in which all credit and debt are wiped away. The ramifications of these two requirements are so great that concerns arose in later generations as to the Shemitah’s financial and economic consequences. These concerns were intensified when the Jewish people returned to the land of Israel in modern times.”

Cahn concludes the Shemitah, according to biblical admonitions, “declares that God is first and above all realms of life, and must therefore be put first and above every realm. During the Shemitah, Israel was, in effect, compelled to turn away from these earthly or worldly realms and return to their spiritual.”

When God is removed from the equation, as is increasingly happening in modern, secular America, then a removal of God’s blessings inevitably follows.

“The Shemitah thus deals with a particular flaw of human nature – the tendency to divorce the blessings of life from the Giver of those blessings, to divorce the physical realm from the spiritual,” he continues.

“It then seeks to compensate for the loss of the spiritual by increasing its claims over the physical world, pursuing more and more things, increase, gain – materialism. The increase of things, in turn, further crowds out the presence of God. The Shemitah is the antidote to all these things – the clearing away of material attachments to allow the work and presence of God to come in.”

Cahn sees major stock-market downturns as fulfilling God’s law by nullifying financial accounts.

Cahn calculates the next Shemitah begins this month, Sept. 24, and ends at sunset on Sept. 25, 2015. He believes a major stock-market downturn could begin early as next month.

But he cautions on taking the dates too literally.

“Nothing significant has to happen within the Shemitah of 2014-2015,” he writes.

“The phenomenon may manifest in one cycle and not in another, and then again in the next. And the focus of the message is not date-setting but the call of God to repent and return. At the same time, something of significance could take place, and it is wise to note the times.”

Cahn’s message is that the judgment of God is inevitable for any nation like America that forgets its blessings come from God.

“The warning here is this,” he concludes. “If America continues on its present course, its place as the head of nations will fall and the American age and global order will be allowed to collapse.”

The Syrian rebels that Obama is trying to ARM against ISIS have signed NON-AGGRESSION pact with ISIS

The Syrian rebels that Obama is trying to ARM against ISIS have signed NON-AGGRESSION pact with ISIS
Posted on Sep 13, 2014 at 4:57 PM in Foreign Policy Politics | Leave a Comment

By soopermexican

As part of the new phase of maybe-kinda-probably war against ISIS, Obama is seeking to arm the Syrian rebels, hoping they’ll fight against the ravenous terrorists who cut through the Iraqi army like a hot Jihadist knife through butter.

There’s just one tiny problem with this strategy – those rebels have signed a non-aggression pact with ISIS:

The U.S. backed, Syrian Revolutionary Front (SRF), have signed a ceasefire agreement with members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) in the Rif Dimashq Governate. According to the ceasefire agreement, the two militant groups will not engage in violence with one another in the densely populated city of Hajar Al-Aswad, just south of Damascus. The agreement outlines the purpose of the ceasefire, alluding to their mutual interest in usurping the “Nusayri Government” (Nusayri is a derogatory word used to insult Alawi Muslims) in Damascus.

So, then, arming them would accomplish what now?

The President has already asked Congress for the authority to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight ISIS, administration and congressional sources told CNN. Obama is seeking the authority under Title 10 of U.S. Code, which deals with military powers. His request was sent soon after he met with Congressional leadership Tuesday night.

The authority, if granted, would allow the U.S. to accept money from other countries as well for this purpose.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called on Congress to support the request.

“It is clear to me that we need to train and equip Syrian rebels and other groups in the Middle East that need some help,” Reid said Wednesday. “It is called Title 10 authority. The President has tried to get that from us and we should give it to him. That is one way of helping to build an international coalition. Congress should do that.”

It’s clear then that the weaponry and aid we’d be giving to the Syrian rebels would just be used against Assad, and not ISIS, which is the reason for the authorization. Does this make any sense whatsoever?

Testing our new android app

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-inflicting-monumental-suffering-human-rights-watch-adviser-warns-n202111

ERBIL, Iraq – As the United States and other countries ramp up efforts to battle Sunni militants in Syria and Iraq, international experts warn that gruesome finds could lie behind enemy lines. “When ISIS is pushed, if they are pushed back, we’re going to be dealing with mass graves for a long time and suffering of a community on a monumental scale,” Fred Abrahams, a special adviser to Human Rights Watch, told NBC News.

Abrahams also warned that the Yazidi community – which has been targeted by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham – has been devastated by the conflict, with a least a thousand women and children held captive and in danger. There are credible reports of extreme sexual violence and the sale of young girls, he added, saying “the community is in a desperate condition,” he said. ISIS has demanded that religious minorities – including Yazidis and Christians – convert to Islam or be killed, driving thousands to flee persecution. International relief organizations estimate that about 800,000 people have fled ISIS and sought shelter in Iraq’s Kurdistan region alone.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/isis-offensive-obama-faith-unproven-allies

• • Martin Chulov
  • theguardian.com, Friday 12 September 2014 14.33 EDT

Isis militants near Aleppo in Syria in October 2013. Photograph: Alamy

After securing broad regional support for his coalition against Islamic State (Isis) Barack Obama is now turning to the second part of his strategy: empowering proxies on the ground who – in theory – will finish what air strikes started.

The US president’s plan, though, invests immense faith in partners and would-be allies that have done little to display their worth in alliances that are, in many cases, at least a decade old. Of all the US-backed armies or rebel groups in the region, only a few have stood up when tested – and none of them recently.

The best armed and trained of them all, the Iraqi military, surrendered northern Iraq – and all of its arsenals – in less than 48 hours in mid-June, which is the main reason Obama is scrambling to take on a battle-ready Isis now.

The rout of the Iraqi army was one of the most extraordinary in modern military history. Five divisions numbering roughly 120,000 soldiers and officers fled as the jihadis advanced towards Mosul, Tikrit and Kirkuk, changing the face of the modern Middle East and posing a serious threat to states from the Levant to the Gulf and well beyond.

In August, the Isis rampage turned north towards the notional Kurdish capital of Irbil, where another US-trained ally – the Kurdish peshmerga forces – also rapidly retreated, leaving half a million Yazidis and Christians to fend for themselves.

Across the now redundant border with Syria, the Syrian army – though not a US partner – had been struggling to contain an insurrection against the country’s leadership until it was reinforced by Iran and its proxies, especially Hezbollah, in December 2012.

Now, from Damascus to Baghdad, non-state actors are leading the fighting, with what remains of the Syrian and Iraqi armies subservient to them.

Iranian-backed Shia militias are directing key battles, including the fight earlier this month to regain the Turkoman town of Amerli, which had been surrounded by Isis since late June.

The campaign saw an extraordinary convergence of interests, with the US air force providing game-changing air cover to its arch-foe, the Iranian Major General Qassem Suleimani, who was on the ground as militias he directed rescued the Turkomans.

The Iraqi army played a support role, just as it has elsewhere in Iraq in every attempt to claw back its losses. Ever since, it has not been deployed anywhere in the country without large numbers of militias.

In Syria, where the US air campaign is now turning, militias are also dominant. The Syrian opposition is split into two main groupings. The Syrian revolutionary council – which is backed by Saudia Arabia – will be expected to lead the counterattack against Isis. But its influence is limited by the terrain it controls, roughly a wedge of land from northern Idlib province to the edge of Aleppo.

Beyond that the Islamic Front – backed by Qatar and Turkey but viewed warily by the US – holds sway and has been the main bulwark against Isis. Neither group gets on, and while heavy weapons and training could buy influence with either, there is little to show from their track record against Assad that they could defeat an even more formidable foe.

There is, however, one precedent for success – the partnership between the US military and the Sunni tribes of Anbar province, who revolted against al-Qaida in Iraq in early 2007. The then occupying US army threw its full weight behind the initiative, and the jihadis were ousted after around nine bloody months. Several years of relative quiet followed, but now they are back, stronger than ever, and with the world’s most powerful army not on the ground to take them on.

“This is a big, big stretch,” said a senior US official who was in Iraq at the time of the awakening. “Nothing I have seen inspires confidence that our new friends can get things done, especially when the old (friends) failed so miserably.”

http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/52489/20140910/lebanese-christians-take-up-arms-to-resist-isis-rising-tide-of-sunni-pride.htm

ISIS is growing in strength, and as Christians flee Syria and Iraq to escape the horror, Lebanese Christians fear that they will not be the only people coming across the border.  The writing is on the wall, as one report claim Churches in the north are being graffitied with the words: “The Islamic State is coming.”

Fears in Lebanon multiplied after militants from Syria overran a border town last month, clashing with security forces for days and killing and kidnapping Lebanese soldiers and policemen, according to the Associated Press reporting from Qaa.  Nerby Arsal was taken, and the area has become a hotzone.

“We all know that if they come, they will slit our throats for no reason,” said one villager as he drove through the streets in the border town, Qaa, an assault rifle of the ready.

For the first time since the Lebanese civil war ended in 1990, Lebanese Christians are arming themselves for self-defense, deploying on hills surrounding their communities, and laying in ambush in case Muslim extremists head their way.  The remnant of the Lebanese resistance is taking up arms again.

ISIS has already taken Arsal, and the Lebanese Army continues to shell the town to try and recover it.  The Islamic State is also gaining popularity among Lebanese Sunni groups, according to news from the region.

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In Tripoli, the black flag of ISIS is gaining popularity, as a form of “Sunni Pride”, according to the Daily Star.

The ISIS-affiliated insignia is increasingly appearing outside some shops around Tripoli and is being donned by protesters at Islamist rallies in the city, a potential signal of the radical group’s growing reach and level of support in Lebanon’s second-biggest city. Others, however, insist it is merely a symbol of Sunni unity and pride.

In Iraq, thousands of Christians have fled rather than face the alternative of converting or being killed. The homes of the departed, have been claimed as Islamic State property and marked with the Arabic letter ‘N’ for Nasarani, or Christian.

Meanwhile, thousands of Syrian Christians have been displaced and found there way into Lebanon, but are beginning to feel insecure even in the pluralistic country.

Some leftist and communist groups in Lebanon have supported the rearming of Christians, and black market weapons sales have climbed.  Hezbollah, a Shiite group, has indirectly supported the effort.

But there is concern all over Lebanon, that the rearming effort could raise tensions in Lebanon, which is split over the Syrian conflict. During its own 15-year civil war, the right wing Phalange group fought on behalf of Lebanese Christians, but news seems to point to a turning tide of sentiment.

The number of Christians in the Middle East is rapidly declining as jihadist groups target their communities, and many Christians have fled Syria for Europe. Iraq’s Ninevah region and the provincial capital of Mosul has been emptied of the Christian communities that have lived in the area for centuries.

“We are scared,” Umm Milad, a young Iraqi woman said while waiting to collect aid at a Chaldean church in Beirut. She came to Lebanon with her husband and children after someone painted an ‘N’ on their home in Mosul in July. The terrorists gave them 24 hours to leave. “We don’t want to go back. We want to go anywhere else. Canada or America,” she said.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/217313-colo-woman-pleads-guilty-to-aiding-isis

A 19-year-old Colorado woman pleaded guilty on Wednesday for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and a number of al Qaeda affiliates.

According to the Justice Department, Shannon Conley of Arvada, Colo., and a co-conspirator unlawfully worked together with others to provide support and resources to the two groups between February and April.

Conley and her co-conspirator, a man, met on the Internet, and bonded over their support for violent jihad.

“The co-conspirator communicated to Conley that he was an active member of an al Qaeda affiliate fighting in Syria known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham (ISIS),” said the DOJ in a statement.

“The two then decided to become engaged, and together, they worked to have Conley travel to Syria to join her new fiance,” the statement added. “Before traveling to Syria, Conley refined and obtained additional training and skills in order to provide support and assistance to any al Qaeda and/or ISIS fighter. Conley also intended to fight if it became necessary to do so.”

The guilty plea comes as fears grow that Americans are flocking to join ISIS and that members of the group with Western passports could return to their home countries to commit violence.

Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, said Wednesday that “several hundred” Americans might have traveled to Syria to fight with the Islamist group.

According to the DOJ, Conley also joined the U.S. Army Explorers to be trained in U.S. military tactics and weapons, and traveled to Texas where she obtained first aid training, as well as firearm certification from the National Rifle Association.

On numerous occasions, secret FBI agents attempted to persuade her not to travel overseas to fight, the DOJ said.

On March 29, 2014, Conley’s co-conspirator, along with others, arranged for her to fly to Turkey from Denver.

On April 8, 2014, Conley was arrested by FBI agents as she attempted to board a flight to Turkey at Denver International Airport.

“A subsequent search of Conley’s home revealed DVDs of Anwar Al-Awlaki lectures and a number of books and articles about al Qaeda, its affiliate groups and jihad. Agents also recovered shooting targets labeled with the number of rounds fired and distances,” the DOJ said.

Conley faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

http://time.com/3341270/isis-war-obama-iraq-terrorism-isil/

The use of the W-word could have both legal and political implications.

Top Obama Administration officials have publicly given conflicting accounts in recent days over a fundamental question of the new U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria: Is the nation at war?

With 158 airstrikes carried out on ISIS targets and more than 1,600 troops deployed to Iraq in various capacities, Secretary of State John Kerry told ABC News Thursday that the nation was not in fact at war with the militant group, which has seized vast territory in Syria and Iraq. “No. Look, we’re engaged in a counterterrorism operation of a significant order,” Kerry said. “And counterterrorism operations can take a long time, they go on. I think ‘war’ is the wrong reference term with respect to that, but obviously it involves kinetic military action.” National Security Advisor Susan Rice weighed in Thursday to CNN that “I think, frankly, this is a counterterrorism operation that will take time.”

But by Friday afternoon, the White House and the Pentagon were reversing course. “Make no mistake, we know we are at war with [ISIS], in the same way we are at war, and continue to be at war, with al-Qaeda and its affiliates,” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said, referencing a long-term, largely-airborne campaign against the terrorist group.

At the White House, the same word was used. “The United States is at war with [ISIS] in the same way we are at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates,” echoed White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest minutes later. “The United States is at war with [ISIS].”

Only Congress can formally declare war under the U.S. Constitution. The White House said Obama is now relying on the 2001 post-9/11 Authorization for the Use of Military Force against al Qaeda as a Congressional justification for the campaign against ISIS.

It was far from the first mixed message sent by the administration in the months-long conflict. Last month Obama suggested he had “no strategy” for dealing with ISIS in Syria. Later Obama suggested ISIS could be contained to become “a manageable problem” in the region. Finally, as he reiterated to the nation on Wednesday night, Obama promised to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the militant group, but he did not describe the metrics that would be used to know when either of those goals were achieved.

The confusing language has drawn fire from Republicans and puzzling looks from Democrats, but hasn’t yet undermined the emerging broad-based support among the American people for the airstrikes.

UNITED NATIONS — France wants more power to block its citizens from leaving the country, while Britain is weighing whether to stop more of its citizens from coming home. Tunisia is debating measures to make it a criminal offense to help jihadist fighters travel to Syria and Iraq, while Russia has outlawed enlisting in armed groups that are “contradictory to Russian policy.”

The rapid surge of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and its ability to draw fighters from across the globe, has set off alarm bells in capitals worldwide. Countries that rarely see eye to eye are now trying to blunt its recruitment drive, passing a raft of new rules that they hope will stop their citizens from joining extremist groups abroad.

Complete story here. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/world/middleeast/isis-recruits-prompt-laws-against-foreign-fighters.html?_r=0

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/09/11/ISIS-Opposition-Killed-Bomb

Nearly fifty senior commanders of a major coalition of Islamic ‘moderates’ opposed to ISIS in Syria have been killed by an explosion at their secret command bunker as they met to discuss strategy against the the Islamic State.

The blast in the Northwest region of Idlib, Syria on Tuesday killed senior members of rebel group the Ahrar-al-Sham brigade (AaS), including leader Hassan Abboud and 45 others including senior members from other rebel alliance groups, reports The Times. The Idlib region stands in AaS territory, but it is close to the front-line with ISIS in neighbouring Aleppo.

Sources dispute the source of the blast, with it being unclear whether it was an opposition group, suicide bomber, or accidental explosion at a nearby ammunition dump. Regardless, the incident will destabilise and possibly tear apart the AaS group and associated Islamic Front Coalition which was recently described as “the most powerful armed group in Syria”.

Islamic group Ahrar-al-Sham, whose name translates as ‘The Free Men of Syria’, is one of many movements competing in the inter-rebel conflict in Syria. A number of rebel groups are presently fighting each other as well as besieged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose power base is in West and South-West, for overall control of the Region.

As the main rival to ISIS for control of Syria, the AaS blast if not orchestrated by the Islamic State will certainly be greatly beneficial to them. The ‘decapitation’ strategy, targeting Ahrar-al-Sham’s political, military and spiritual leadership is reminiscent of the United States’ targeted strikes against the leadership of Al-Qaeda.

The death of Abboud and his followers in Idlib highlights the difficulty of Western involvement in the conflict, where enemies of the apparent first enemy ISIS also make fairly poor potential allies. Many members of AaS have come from groups like Al-Qaeda and would in any other context be considered hard line Islamists.

The Ahrar-al-Sham brigade has also been extremely critical of Western involvement in the conflict. In an interview before his death leader Abboud rejected the Geneva peace conference saying: “We see Geneva as a tool of manipulation; to derail the Syrian revolution away from its goals and objectives …. Whatever outcome the conference may yield, will be binding on the Syrian National Coalition only. For us, we will continue to fight for our revolution until we restore our rights”.

Ahrar-al-Sham has appointed a new leader, Hashim al-Sheikh, who will attempt to hold together the fragile coalition which has lost most of its senior thinkers and strategists. al-Sheik said the attack “will only make us more resilient to fight and continue the fight until we liberate our homeland” on Wednesday.