Tag Archives: Origin of ISIS

Featured, Foreign Policy, International

Matt Drudge: ‘America Has Been Arming ISIS’

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Influential conservative news aggregator Matt Drudge issued a tweet on Tuesday acknowledging the growing body of evidence that suggests that the U.S. has participated in arming the terror group ISIS.

https://twitter.com/DRUDGE/status/669170178966470656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The Politistick’s Jennifer Burke described Drudge as “pretty much reclusive these days” and noted that “he doesn’t tweet from his personal, and verified, Twitter account often. In fact, he at times tweets something, then eventually deletes it.”

The above-embedded tweet is as of press time the only one on Drudge’s entire Twitter page.

Drudge’s realization follows nearly two years of Truth in Media coverage of how U.S. foreign policy is enabling terrorism in Syria and Iraq and has led to the rise of ISIS.

[RELATED: Flashback: Ben Swann’s Truth In Media on Syria]

In September of 2013, Ben Swann reported on how U.S. efforts to arm radical Islamist rebel groups against secular Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad were empowering extremists who were planning to create what he described at the time as an “al-Qaeda ‘super state,’ comprised of Iraq and Syria.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCBhyzRELLw

After those same rebels went on later to predictably form the radical Islamist super state ISIS and began capturing territory in Syria and Iraq, Ben Swann released another report describing how U.S. foreign policy contributed to the rise of the terror group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kdi1UXxhY

Last week, Ben Swann reported in a CBS 46 Atlanta Reality Check video, seen below, on a leaked 2012 Department of Defense document that shows that “the United States, the Saudis, Jordan, Qatar and more, wanted a Salafist or fundamental Islamic group to take over eastern Syria in order to isolate and overthrow the Syrian President Assad’s regime.”

[RELATED: DONEGAN: U.S. Should Sit Back And Let Putin Destroy ISIS in Syria]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1aDciHCejA

The leaked DOD report demonstrates that the United States government intentionally supported the rise of ISIS in Syria in an effort to achieve its yet-unrealized goal of overthrowing Assad’s government.

Featured, Foreign Policy, Politics

Obama Criticizes Fear of ISIS, Asks Media to ‘Maintain Perspective’

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During a press conference at a meeting of the United States-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Malaysia on Sunday, Obama maintained his belief that the U.S.-led coalition will defeat the Islamic State. Obama also warned against succumbing to fear of ISIS and called for the media to report in a way that would “maintain perspective” and avoid bolstering terrorism, while calling militants “a bunch of killers with good social media.”

At the conference, Obama began by discussing current relations with Japan, Australia and the Philippines, and said he wanted to talk about a headline that called the trip “Obama’s Asian Distraction?”

“The premise seemed to be that this region was somehow disconnected from pressing global events,” Obama said. “I could not disagree more.  This region is not a distraction from the world’s central challenges, like terrorism. The Asia Pacific is absolutely critical to promoting security, prosperity and human dignity around the world.”

[RELATED: Reality Check: Proof U.S. Government Wanted ISIS To Emerge in Syria]

Obama noted that for over a year, the U.S. “has built and led a broad coalition,” which consists of 65 nations, against ISIS. However, because of “the frequent focus on America’s leadership of this campaign,” Obama claimed that the contributions of other partners are overlooked.

[RELATED: U.S. Encourages Coalition Partners to Intensify the Fight Against ISIS… Online?]

Obama also noted that “more than 40 countries have now passed or strengthened laws to prevent the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, and 34 nations, including the United States, have arrested foreign terrorist fighters.”

[pull_quote_center]All of which is to say that our coalition will not relent. We will not accept the idea that terrorist assaults on restaurants and theaters and hotels are the new normal – or that we are powerless to stop them. After all, that’s precisely what terrorists like ISIL want, because, ultimately, that’s the only way that they can win. That’s the very nature of terrorism – they can’t beat us on the battlefield, so they try to terrorize us into being afraid, into changing our patterns of behavior, into panicking, into abandoning our allies and partners, into retreating from the world. And as President, I will not let that happen.[/pull_quote_center]

When asked if he would consider Russia being a part of the coalition, Obama said it depends on whether the nation can make a “strategic adjustment.”

“It will be helpful if Russia directs its focus on ISIL, and I do think that as a consequence of ISIL claiming responsibility for bringing down their plane, there is an increasing awareness on the part of President Putin that ISIL poses a greater threat to them than anything else in the region,” Obama said. “The question at this point is whether they can make the strategic adjustment that allows them to be effective partners with us and the other 65 countries who are already part of the counter-ISIL campaign.  And we don’t know that yet.”  

When asked how Americans should feel about the Islamic State “if they shouldn’t be scared,” Obama said he believes there is a difference “between smart applications of law enforcement and military and intelligence, and succumbing to the kind of fear that leads us to abandon our values.”

Obama noted resilience of Americans in the face of terrorism, and said “once this network is destroyed- and it will be- there may be others that pop up in different parts of the world, and so we’re going to have to continue to take seriously how we maintain the infrastructure that we’ve built to prevent this. But it doesn’t have to change the fundamental trajectory of the American people. And that we should feel confident about.”

Obama went on to say that “the media needs to help in this. I just want to say- during the course of this week, a very difficult week, it is understandable that this has been a primary focus. But one of the things that has to happen is how we report on this has to maintain perspective, and not empower in any way these terrorist organizations or elevate them in ways that make it easier for them to recruit or make them stronger.”

Investigative journalist Ben Swann reported on the origin of ISIS in March, and he noted that while the perception has been created that the group is the “creation of American inaction,” the reality is that they are the “product of direct action.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kdi1UXxhY

Featured, Foreign Policy, US

U.S. Senators Call For Obama To End Program Training Syrian Militants

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A letter sent from a bipartisan group of four U.S. Senators on Friday called on the Obama administration to end its Syria Train and Equip Program, calling the program a “failed initiative” that needs to be stopped before causing “additional harm” to the Syrian people.

Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) criticized the program, which was originally presented as a way to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels in an effort to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS).

[pull_quote_center]We write to express our deep concern about the Syria Train and Equip Program and to call for an end to this failed initiative. When Congress was considering the program last year, many of us expressed our concerns about this program endangering Americans and further escalating the conflict.[/pull_quote_center]

The letter, which was addressed to Department of Defense secretary Ash Carter, Department of State secretary John Kerry and Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan, stated that the evidence from the program’s lack of success further supports their initial concerns.

[RELATED: ISIS Seized 2,300 U.S. Armored Humvees, Possibly Worth 1 Billion Dollars]

The senators noted that the program, which was “authorized at $500 million for Fiscal Year 2015,” has struggled to graduate “vetted” opposition fighters, and that General Lloyd Austin III, the commander of United States Central Command, recently said that only “four or five U.S.-trained opposition fighters were on the ground fighting in Syria.” The program’s initial goal was to train 5,000 fighters in its first year.

[pull_quote_center]The Syria Train and Equip Program goes beyond simply being an inefficient use of taxpayer dollars. As many of us initially warned, it is now aiding the very forces we aim to defeat.[/pull_quote_center]

The senators cited a report from the U.S. Central Command which “confirmed that some of the fighters that we trained and equipped had turned over ammunition and trucks to al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, Al Nusra Front,” and that in exchange for safe passage, the U.S.-trained fighters “gave up approximately 25% of their U.S.-issued equipment.”

[pull_quote_center]With over 200,000 persons killed, 4 million refugees, and 7.6 million internally displaced people, the situation in Syria is absolutely tragic, and we must ensure that any U.S. efforts do not cause additional harm. We ask that you cease the Syria Train and Equip Program and look for alternative ways forward.[/pull_quote_center]

Late last month, the Obama administration corrected reports that the Syria Train and Equip Program had been suspended. Emily Horne, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, acknowledged that “We have clearly faced challenges with the Train & Equip program, and we are currently reviewing our efforts to determine how we can do better.” Horne also said that “we will continue our support for those forces on the ground while also continuing to refine and improve the Train & Equip program.”

Investigative journalist Ben Swann reported on the origin of ISIS in March, noting that ISIS experienced dramatic growth in 2014 “because of all the U.S. military equipment they were able to seize – equipment that our military left in Iraq.” 

[RELATED: Truth In Media: The Origin of ISIS]

Swann also noted that even when the U.S. government “became aware that ISIS fighters were capturing U.S. equipment, it did nothing.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=o6kdi1UXxhY

Election, Politics

Jeb Bush: Hillary Clinton Shares The Blame For The Rise Of ISIS

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GOP presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has begun attacking Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in several areas, including her involvement in the United States’ relations with Iraq during her tenure as Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.

During a speech on Tuesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Bush blamed both Clinton and President Obama, claiming that they let the U.S. retreat from Iraq which gave way to  the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“ISIS grew while the United States disengaged from the Middle East and ignored the threat and where was Secretary of State Clinton in all of this?” Bush said. “Like the President himself, she had opposed the surge, then joined in claiming credit for its success, then stood by as that hard-won victory by American and Ally forces was thrown away.”

While many would point towards Bush’s father, former President George Bush, who ordered the nation’s first invasion of Iraq in 1990, or to his brother, former President George W. Bush, who began the Iraq war in 2003 and called for additional forces in 2006, Jeb Bush insisted that Obama’s “minimalist approach of incremental escalation,” along with Clinton standing by, was to blame for the rise of ISIS.

[RELATED: College Student Tells Jeb Bush ‘Your Brother Created ISIS’]

“Right now, we have around 3,500 soldiers and marines in Iraq, and more may well be needed,” said Bush, who went on to explain that he would also send U.S. forces to Iraq as “spotters” looking for enemy targets and that he would provide more support to Iraqi Kurds fighting ISIS.

In response, Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s senior policy advisor and former aide at the State Department, told the New York Times that he sees Bush’s comments as “a pretty bold attempt to rewrite history and reassign responsibility.”

Bush claimed that “in all of her record-setting travels” as Secretary of State, Clinton “stopped by Iraq only once.”

Sullivan insisted that the key issue was not “how many times does the plane touch down at the airport,” rather it was “how intensive and effective is the engagement that leads to progress.”

ISIS was also the topic of one of the questions at last week’s GOP debate. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was asked about the United States’ involvement with ISIS, and he noted that while the U.S. did not create ISIS directly, it is responsible for the group obtaining at least a billion dollars in Humvees deserted by the United States.

[RELATED: GOP Debate: Rand Paul Notes U.S. Involvement In Arming ISIS]

Investigative journalist Ben Swann reported on the origin of ISIS in March, and he noted that the group grew drastically after it seized Humvees, tanks and weaponry left behind by the U.S. and that even when the U.S. government “became aware that ISIS fighters were capturing U.S. equipment, it did nothing.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kdi1UXxhY

For more election coverage click here.

Featured, Foreign Policy, International, Interviews, Opinion, US

Exclusive: Brad Hoff Discusses DIA Report, Mainstream Media Coverage of Syria

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Military veteran and journalist Brad Hoff has a unique perspective of Syria after living there off and on for years.

“I ended up settling down in Syria, and loved the culture, loved the people,” he said to Joshua Cook in an exclusive interview.

Hoff said that of course he saw problems there, but the typical stereotypes that he had of the region shattered.

“Got really interested in how the media was covering Syria, and that’s what really got me involved in writing about the place,” he explained. “The mainstream media writing about the conflict in Syria just completely failed on so many fronts.”

The Daily Beast’s coverage of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report, Hoff said, was a hit piece.

As reported previously by Truth In Media, the DIA report basically points at the United States for helping to create ISIS, or the Islamic State.

“DIA analysts make predictions based on their best knowledge based on their best research,” explained Hoff.

“What it does establish beyond a doubt is that in 2012 when this document was written the U.S. definitely saw the likelihood that an Islamic State or some kind of Salafist principality would arise based on as you said fueling the insurgency in Syria,” he said.

“So what this document proves is that there were members in the intelligence community that were fully aware that the insurgency in Syria was mainly driven by Islamic groups, but of course the document seems to predict that the U.S. would use these radical Islamist as a kind of strategic asset in order to put pressure on the Syrian regime.”

And that is what the Daily Beast failed to point out in its story.

Hoff pointed out that this was the Daily Beast’s first mention of the DIA document.

“He really missed the opportunity to shine light on this document, to at least talk about it in some objective way. But instead he focused most of the article on basically saying ‘Oh, this is all a conspiracy.’”

Despite the Daily Beast’s questionable coverage, the DIA document and its findings are gaining traction and interest within the general public.

Hoff said that there have been reports that Kentucky Senator Rand Paul even alluded to the DIA document at a campaign event in Colorado.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) recently sponsored bi-partisan legislation, S.1471, that asks President Obama to declassify the 28-pages in the 9/11 report and is a vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy in Syria.

Truth In Media has reported on key issues regarding the truth about Syria and the Origin of ISIS, which now has over 1 million views. The mainstream media can no longer ignore these stories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kdi1UXxhY

Foreign Policy, Liberty Report

Ron Paul: Is Chaos An Excuse For Escalating U.S. Forces In Iraq?

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Despite admission of failed policies, the strategy for resolving the the battle against the Islamic State seems to be escalating U.S forces in Iraq.

It’s been 12 years since the war started, yet three-time presidential candidate and former Texas Rep. Ron Paul has been dealing with our government’s intervention in Iraq since 1998. Even with half a million people killed and billions of dollars wasted, it seems the policy direction is staying the same.

President Barack Obama announced Monday that despite not having a specific strategy for Iraq, he is sending 500 troops there to set up a new base. These troops won’t be on the front lines, Obama said.

In his latest Liberty Report, Paul countered that any truck, any base, any embassy—any U.S. presence over there is a target. He asked, “Where are the front lines?”

Paul shared his thoughts on the efforts to rally support from other countries in the fight against the ISIS. “I’ve heard some of the generals on TV and some of the political pundits say, well, we need to get Turkey to act differently and be on our side more,” he said. “At the same time, you don’t hear much about what Israel should be doing. Nobody really talks about Israel. But they are very much involved.”

Daniel McAdams, co-host of the Liberty Report, concurred. “Certainly, in regard to Syria and the goal of overthrowing Assad, Israel is firmly on the side of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which is in favor of overthrow,” McAdams said. “In fact, it’s been shown many times that Israel treats wounded al Nusra fighters—which is the al Qaeda franchise in Syria—on Israeli soil. So they are certainly involved in this.”

Paul also noted U.S. Gen. John Allen‘s comments about about the U.S. military fighting the ideology of ISIS. “ISIS is not the country of Syria or Iraq,” Paul said. “It’s amorphous and it is ideological. Ideas, good and bad, are very difficult to handle. But when that idea becomes popular with the people, good and bad, the ideology becomes very important.”

Watch the full episode above and check out more episodes of the Ron Paul Liberty Report here at Truth In Media.

In case you missed Ben Swann’s Truth In Media episode on ISIS watch it below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kdi1UXxhY

International, Politics

Truth in Media: The Origin of ISIS Surpasses 1 Million Views

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In late February, Ben Swann released “The Origin Of Isis,” a Truth In Media episode in which Swann examined the roots of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the group’s subsequent growth.

While the mainstream media has occasionally asked this question in generic form, Swann provided a deeper, impartial investigation of the origins of the militant group, and posed the question of how much responsibility the US government might bear for its role in providing weapons, intended for “freedom fighters”, that ultimately ended up in the hands of ISIS militants.

We are excited to announce that “The Origin Of Isis” has now reached over 1 million views less than three months after its release.

The Truth In Media Project is not controlled by corporate interests, and seeks to continue producing these episodes that provide unrestricted analysis of issues around the world. The production and release of this episode, in addition to all of Swann’s Truth In Media episodes, was funded with great thanks to crowdfunding made possible by supporters of the Truth In Media Project.

Thank you all for your continued support.

 

To contribute to the Truth In Media Project, click here.