Podcasts about levant isil

A terrorism charge has been laid against a New Zealander who allegedly travelled overseas to join Islamic State a decade ago. Mark John Taylor, also known as Mohammed Daniel, was charged under the Terrorism Suppression Act this morning. Charging documents filed in the Wellington District Court state he’s being accused of participating in a group in Syria, namely the Islamic State and the Levant (ISIL) between 29 November 2014 and 24 December 2018. It said he’s believed to have joined the groups “for the purpose of enhancing the ability of ISIL to carry out or participate in one or more terrorist acts intended to cause the death or injury to one or more persons, in one or more countries. It said it was for the purpose of advancing an ideological, political or religious cause with the intention of inducing terror in a civilian population, knowing or being reckless whether ISIL is a designated terrorist identify.” He faces a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment. For some more insight into this case, we’re joined now on The Front Page by Massey University Emeritus Professor Paul Spoonley. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode we sat down with Natia Navrouzov, Executive Director of Yazda. Natia details the crimes committed by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or Da'esh) against the Yazidi population and other minorities in Iraq from 2014 to 2017. She recounts how the tireless advocacy by victims and survivors helped establish the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD) and explores how UNITAD's investigative and analytical work has been central to advancing justice for the Yazidi genocide. Natia concludes with outlining lessons learned and what the international community must do to revitalize efforts for justice and accountability following the closure of UNITAD on 17 September.

Keeping a December mindset. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility for yesterday's bombing in Iran at the tomb of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Producer David Doll's New Year's Weekend activities. Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH) responds to a question in Iowa. Using "TwiX" as an abbreviation for Elon Musk's social media platform X. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charles Cooper continues his discussion of Eschatological Geography: The World Map at the Return of Jesus Christ. Today, Cooper describes the spiritual significance of recent historical events concerning the Assyrian people and their traditional homeland. The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) had a far more significant agenda than most Western Christians think. Just as one can see Satanic opposition to God's agenda in many historically significant events in the Bible that at first glance did not have explicit reference to Satan. The book of Esther, Isil's attempt to drive out the Assyrian Christians from their traditional homeland, has more to do with God's eschatological promise than many might know. Listen as Cooper explains.  

The city of Raqqa has been freed from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for five years now.But it is still reeling from poverty and devastation.So who's responsible? And how much of a threat is a resurgence of ISIL, in its former capital? Join host Emily Angwin. Guests: Joshua Landis - Director, Center for Middle East Studies, University of Oklahoma. Murat Yesiltas - Director of Foreign Policy Research at the think tank SETA. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi -  Aymenn is a specialist on ISIL, Castlereagh Associates.

Michael is joined by Dr Keith Suter, Managing Director of the Global Directions Think Tank, regarding the Syrian civil war, the internal conflict between the Syrian army and the rebel groups composed by many heterogeneous branches, that commenced 10 years ago today.   The unrest in Syria, which began on 15 March 2011 as part of the wider 2011 Arab Spring protests, grew out of discontent with the Syrian government and escalated to an armed conflict after protests calling for Assad's removal were violently suppressed.   The war is being fought by several factions: the Syrian Armed Forces and its domestic and international allies, a loose alliance of mostly Sunni opposition rebel groups (such as the Free Syrian Army), Salafi jihadist groups (including al-Nusra Front and Tahrir al-Sham), the mixed Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).   A number of foreign countries, such as Iran, Israel, Russia, Turkey, and the United States, have either directly involved themselves in the conflict or provided support to one or another faction.    Over the course of the war, a number of peace initiatives have been launched, including the March 2017 Geneva peace talks on Syria led by the United Nations, but fighting has continued. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  Donald Trump ordered the assassination of one of Iran's top generals in Iraq with an insane stated intent to prevent a war with Iran. Killed in the attack at an Iraqi airport was also a top commander of Iraqi forces that were key in defeating ISIS terrorist groups. Qassem Soleimani, a 62-year-old who headed the foreign arm of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's elite military force and he was deeply popular in Iran and among Tehran's allies. Soleimani survived several previous assassination attempts over the past 20 years and was credited with helping armed groups defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group. Joining Scotty T. Reid tonight will be David Wren a former host of Thando Radio Show who is also a prepper to discuss the assassination, what it could mean not just for the region but for the global markets, and what if anything people should do to prepare for a possible war with Iran. ;new advadsCfpAd( 35245 );

  Donald Trump ordered the assassination of one of Iran's top generals in Iraq with an insane stated intent to prevent a war with Iran. Killed in the attack at an Iraqi airport was also a top commander of Iraqi forces that were key in defeating ISIS terrorist groups. Qassem Soleimani, a 62-year-old who headed the foreign arm of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's elite military force and he was deeply popular in Iran and among Tehran's allies. Soleimani survived several previous assassination attempts over the past 20 years and was credited with helping armed groups defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group. Joining Scotty T. Reid tonight will be David Wren a former host of Thando Radio Show who is also a prepper to discuss the assassination, what it could mean not just for the region but for the global markets, and what if anything people should do to prepare for a possible war with Iran. ;new advadsCfpAd( 35245 );

The unending Syrian civil war and the accompanying rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) have generated a profound crisis for the peoples of the region and its neighbours. State collapse and multiple insurgencies have generated mass displacements, generalised destruction and social involution. Regional powers have played a central role in the unfolding of these events, as are increasingly Russian and American military and diplomatic forces. In this debate, a panel of experts drawn from the Birkbeck Politics faculty will analyse and assess the origins and dynamics of the crisis. Why is ISIL so successful in its Western recruitment? How are new military and communications technologies shaping the regional conflict? Can ISIL be defeated? What are the possible solutions to the Syrian civil war? Does ISIL fragment and weaken or focus and reenergise global jihadi struggle? What explains the new sectarianism in the Middle East that ISIL is also a manifestation of? Will this crisis further entrench mistrust between Washington and Moscow, or is this an opportunity to activate collective security? These are some of the questions the panel addresses. Panel: Ed Bacon, Matthijs van den Bos, Antoine Bousquet, Rob Singh, Barbara Zollner Chair: Alex Colás Facebook: www.facebook.com/BirkbeckPolitics/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/birkbeck-dept-of-politics Twitter: www.twitter.com/bbkpolitics Centre website: www.csbppl.com Department website: www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/

The unending Syrian civil war and the accompanying rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) have generated a profound crisis for the peoples of the region and its neighbours. State collapse and multiple insurgencies have generated mass displacements, generalised destruction and social involution. Regional powers have played a central role in the unfolding of these events, as are increasingly Russian and American military and diplomatic forces. In this debate, a panel of experts drawn from the Birkbeck Politics faculty will analyse and assess the origins and dynamics of the crisis. Why is ISIL so successful in its Western recruitment? How are new military and communications technologies shaping the regional conflict? Can ISIL be defeated? What are the possible solutions to the Syrian civil war? Does ISIL fragment and weaken or focus and reenergise global jihadi struggle? What explains the new sectarianism in the Middle East that ISIL is also a manifestation of? Will this crisis further entrench mistrust between Washington and Moscow, or is this an opportunity to activate collective security? These are some of the questions the panel addresses. Panel: Ed Bacon, Matthijs van den Bos, Antoine Bousquet, Rob Singh, Barbara Zollner Chair: Alex Colás Facebook: www.facebook.com/BirkbeckPolitics/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/birkbeck-dept-of-politics Twitter: www.twitter.com/bbkpolitics Centre website: www.csbppl.com Department website: www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/

Last week it was released that work will soon begin on a church planned to honor the deaths of a group of Egyptian Coptic Christians who were killed earlier this year by a Libyan militant group affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). This is just one instance of violence against Coptic Christians in the Middle East, part of a complex history of persecution that goes back hundreds of years and continues today. On this episode of Humanities Viewpoints, Dr. Nelly van Doorn-Harder talks with me about the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, sectarian violence, and the current state of the church. Nelly van Doorn-Harder is Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department for the Study of Religions at Wake Forest University. Her research straddles issues concerning women and religion, human rights in Muslim countries, and the interreligious encounter between Muslims and Christians. She was born and raised in the Netherlands where she earned her PhD on the topic of women in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. Her main books on Egypt are on Coptic nuns and the modern history of the Coptic popes. Before moving to the United States she was director of a refugee program in Cairo, Egypt, and taught Islamic Studies at universities in the Netherlands and Indonesia.

This is the podcast in which War on the Rocks fixes the Middle East...ok, we kid, but it is a fascinating conversation with some of the most astute and informed U.S. experts on Iraq and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Have a listen!   We were joined by: J.M. Berger, author of the new book, ISIS: State of Terror (along with Jessica Stern) and a nonresident fellow in the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution. William McCants, author of the forthcoming book, ISIS Apocalypse, a fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy and director of the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution. Denise Natali, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University (her views do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. government). Douglas Ollivant, a senior national security fellow with the New America Foundation and a managing partner and the Senior Vice President of Mantid International. Ryan Evans, editor-in-chief of War on the Rocks, moderated with Lagavulin 16 neat in hand.

On Thursday of this week, Lawfare’s Benjamin Wittes and Bobby Chesney, along with General Jack Keane, appeared before the House Armed Services Committee to provide “Outside Perspectives on the President’s Proposed Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).” It’s an in-depth hearing that delves extensively into the President’s proposed AUMF, its merits and its flaws, and how those failings can be addressed. For today’s podcast, we’ve removed any non-AUMF discussion so that only the most relevant parts are included.  

An exploration of the threat from militants of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria near Turkey’s border and what NATO can do to protect its Ally. Interviews with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, former EU Ambassador to Turkey Marc Pierini and former Deputy Director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center Andrew Liepman. With the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) only kilometres from its border, Turkey’s security challenges are evolving. What role can NATO play to help secure its southern-eastern Ally?

Welcome back, so glad you’re here with us today for another edition of The Live Show.First off, let’s talk about the Royals. What a terrible showing. I felt bad for our boys but they didn’t play well so they didn’t win. Hopefully they’ll play a little better tonight.In today’s episode, we have a lot of stuff in the stack today. We’ve got a lot of Detroit news that I want to talk about. We also have some stuff about the Mexican drug cartels and all this talk about ISIS.I’ve been saying this but ISIS is not really a threat. It’s not a threat to you or me. It’s a problem for you if you live in the region but it’s just not a problem for us.And there’s an article from American Al Jazeera contrasting how bad ISIL is with how bad the drug cartels in Mexico are. They have some good numbers that they throw out here are actually pretty good so I’ll read a little bit about it despite the fact that it’s nothing more than an apology piece for ISIL, which we’ll get to a little later in the show. I want to begin by talking first about stocks.We saw a major rally. Now, I don’t like to pat myself on the back but sometimes when nobody is there to pat me on the back, I have to do it. And I told you guys that we were going to see a rally.If you take a look at the Dow Jones Industrial average, we’re trading at 16 6. Now, I put my money where my mouth was and I bought calls at 164 calls, the November calls. And so right now, I’m well into the money on those calls and I am looking for a move back up into around 16 8. That is the previous little dip level. I told you last time you have to respect the previous structural level looking at around 16 4. You can see that the market actually found a little bit of resistance.The market did respect that 16 4 level until yesterday and we now broke above it. So, the next level that we’re kind of watching is at 16 8. If we can get there, then that’s going to be the area where I’m going to look to off my calls and take my profits out of that because I think that’s probably where we’re going to potentially be seeing the selling.I didn’t know if this was going to be a 3 day rally or a 7 day rally but it looks like we’re already 3 days into the rally. We could have a down day today but if we can get up there, if we can get a 200 pip rally over the next couple of days, I’ll end up taking that position off for a very nice profit.-----If you would like to discuss anything with John about the show, email him at Jason@TheLiveShow.TVYou can also use the hashtag #TheLiveShowFollow Jason on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/TheLiveShowTVFollow Us on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/TheLiveShowTV-----If you are really enjoying the show and would like to support what we're doing at The Live Show, please consider donating to our cause. You can do that at www.Patreon.com/TheLiveShow-----Are you interested in advertising on The Live Show?Reach out to us at Advertising@TheLiveShow.TVWe’d love to talk with you.-----SponsorsTrade Pro Futures: http://tradeprofutures.com/The industry's top futures and forex trading platforms.Trade Empowered: http://www.tradeempowered.com/Learn how to day-trade, swing-trade, or become a profitable long term trader.Main Street Alpha: http://mainstreetalpha.com/A social site that links up professional successful traders with verifiable track records to capital.-----The U.N. just made a recent visit to Detroit.For those of you who don’t know, Detroit has looked like a war zone, a war torn country. They have lost something like 50% of their population. There are massive amounts of poverty and huge losses of business and commerce. Because Detroit was built around the auto industry, when the auto industry saw a decline, Detroit likewise saw a decline. The unions have lost their grip on that economy. And companies are just simply moving out, moving their plants to other countries, other parts of the United States, where it’s less expensive for them to operate.One of their major problems is Detroit is now bankrupt, they’re beyond bankrupt. They cannot pay their bills, they cannot do anything that they’re suppose to do. Keep in mind, liberals and progressives have been running the state of Michigan and, more specifically, the city of Detroit, since the Industrial Revolution. And like most progressives, they’ve managed to run it into the ground.The reason that it happens is that they make promises that they cannot possibly fulfill on. They consider things that are really no more than conveniences or excesses as human rights, as rights. It’s a right that you have a certain amount of money. It’s a right that you receive a certain amount of pay. It’s a right that you have healthcare or that you have a place to live. And when you start making these rights, you have to fulfill on that. And when you start making promises that you are going to pay someone a certain wage and you’re going to give them certain insurances, certain pensions, eventually, when times are good there is no problem but when times start to turn down, there is no way for you to possibly pay for those things.This is where entitlement comes from.Detroit officials bristle at UN visit, scolding over water shut-offshttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/21/detroit-disappointed-in-uns-non-fact-finding-visits-about-water-shut-offs/Detroit officials are fuming after two visiting United Nations lawyers scolded the city for cutting off water to delinquent customers and described the shut-offs as a “human rights” violation.The response follows a three-day visit to Detroit -- which desperately is trying to bail itself out of bankruptcy -- from two representatives with the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.Detroit officials have defended the decision, arguing that customers collectively owed more than $115 million in delinquent water-and-sewer department payments before the city took action and that their efforts are improving the situation.They have done just an absolutely atrocious job of managing virtually every aspect of that city. Things have gotten so bad, they have gotten so bankrupt, that they are resorting to actually doing some things that they should have done, really, a long time ago. One of which is shutting off the water to people who do not pay their water bills.What we have here is a grossly mismanaged city by a group of progressives who think they know better how to run everything.Here’s the thing: You just can’t not pay for a service that’s not a human right.It doesn’t work like that. Water being delivered to your house is not a human right. It’s a privilege. It’s a benefit. It’s a luxury.Now I know many of you in America might not think of indoor plumbing as a luxury or a common convenience but it is. There are lots of people around the world who would love to not have to go out and pump water from a well and bring it to their home.Snyder signs bill banning direct auto saleshttp://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2014/10/21/snyder-tesla-direct-sales/17663891/Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday signed a bill banning automakers from selling vehicles directly to customers in Michigan.The new law closes a loophole that California-based Tesla Motors Inc. has used in other states to maintain company-owned retail stores, bypassing the dealership route.It’s because of policies like this that they are bankrupt. With absolute power, there is a lot of corruption. Anytime you give government authority, you risk government corruption.The law says that you cannot sell a vehicle direct to a consumer if you’re auto maker. You must sell through authorized franchises.Now, why would they do that? Is that in the best interest of the consumer?Absolutely not. You’re creating a middle man. You’re creating price hikes. You’re creating a barrier between the person who creates the products to selling to the person who wants to buy it.It doesn’t benefit the consumer at all. And doesn’t benefit the auto company either because now they cannot be competitive.Fed likely to end bond buying, may signal caution on rate hikeshttp://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/16/us-usa-fed-idUSKCN0I529T20141016The Federal Reserve is likely to reassure investors later this month that it won't stand idle if global turbulence threatens the U.S. economy, but a proposal from one top policymaker to keep on buying bonds looks to be a bridge too far.Mexican drug cartels are worse than ISILhttp://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/10/isil-vs-mexican-drugcartelsunitedstatesislamophobia.htmlThe horrific rampage of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has captured the world’s attention. Many Western commentators have characterized ISIL’s crimes as unique, no longer practiced anywhere else in the civilized world. They argue that the group’s barbarism is intrinsically Islamic, a product of the aggressive and archaic worldview that dominates the Muslim world. The ignorance of these claims is stunning.While there are other organized groups whose depravity and threat to the United States far surpasses that of ISIL, none has engendered the same kind of collective indignation and hysteria. This raises a question: Are Americans primarily concerned with ISIL’s atrocities or with the fact that Muslims are committing these crimes?For example, even as the U.S. media and policymakers radically inflate ISIL’s threat to the Middle East and United States, most Americans appear to be unaware of the scale of the atrocities committed by Mexican drug cartels and the threat they pose to the United States.A recent United Nations report estimated nearly 9,000 civilians have been killed and 17,386 wounded in Iraq in 2014, more than half since ISIL fighters seized large parts on northern Iraq in June. It is likely that the group is responsible another several thousand deaths in Syria. To be sure, these numbers are staggering. But in 2013 drug cartels murdered more than 16,000 people in Mexico alone, and another 60,000 from 2006 to 2012 — a rate of more than one killing every half hour for the last seven years. What is worse, these are estimates from the Mexican government, which is known to deflate the actual death toll by about 50 percent.Statistics alone do not convey the depravity and threat of the cartels. They carry out hundreds of beheadings every year. In addition to decapitations, the cartels are known to dismember and otherwise mutilate the corpses of their victims — displaying piles of bodies prominently in towns to terrorize the public into compliance. They routinely target women and children to further intimidate communities. Like ISIL, the cartels use social media to post graphic images of their atrocious crimes.Support the show.

The US has begun bombing Iraq and Syria in the name of fighting the self-declared Islamic State. But is the real goal targeting the ISIL?  Excerpt from October 8, 2014 US Department of State Daily Press Briefing: Jennifer Psaki (US Department of State Spokesperson): Our objectives here are going after the threat of ISIL, the safe havens where ISIL has in Syria. There will be other towns and cities that we know will be threatened in Syria, but we have to focus on our strategic components here, which are command and control centers, which are oil refineries, which are other pieces where we've done our precision strikes over the past several weeks. QUESTION: So saving people – saving innocent lives from this – from ISIL, which you've called barbaric and evil and everything else under the sun, is not as – is just not a priority? Psaki: Absolutely not. More than a decade after the US and its coalition allies promoted and pursued a military campaign in Iraq, a new campaign is being launched. This time, the rationale (excuse) is not weapons of mass destruction. The casus belli in this case is the need to control and contain the threat posed by a group dubbed the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Formerly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq, the profile of the militants has increased over the past several months in the wake of their conquest of strategic territory within a broad swath of Iraq and Syria. Most notably, the group's reputation for barbarism has been underscored by a number ofhigh profile beheadings, in recent months. While this broadcast was aired, the Kurdish city of Kobani on the Turkish-Syria border is at risk of falling before the repressive ISIL insurgents. While the need to respond to the threat posed by the Islamic State is understandable, at least two questions need to be addressed as Western leaders agitate for military aggression in the region. 1) Is the US bombing campaign currently underway effectively eroding the Islamic State militants' ability to threaten civilians in the region and abroad? 2) Given the US is no stranger to evoking phony pre-texts for war, is the need “to eliminate the terrorist group ISIL and the threat they pose to Iraq, the region and the wider international community,” the true reason for Operation Inherent Resolve, as it's now being called? This week's Global Research News Hour centres on the US coalition's current military mobilization against the entity known as ISIL/ISIS, the likely objectives and propsects for success with two geo-political analysts. Lawrence Wilkerson is a Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy at The College of William and Mary in Virginia. He formerly served as Chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Global Research News Hour contributor Jon Wilson interviewed the US Army Veteran following a speech he gave at the University of Winnipeg on ISIS and the Middle East. Wilkerson attempts to explain the US strategy, his contention of it being fueled by a Sunni-Shia split within Iraq, and his prescription for the prospects for success.  Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is an award-winning author, geopolitical analyst, sociologist, and frequent contributor to Global Research. His view is that the operation against the so-called Islamic State is largely a smokescreen and puts forward his thesis that a larger regional power grab is the ultimate goal for the US.  Nazemroaya will be holding workshops at the World Peace Forum Society's 7th Annual Teach-In, Oct. 25, 2014, at the Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings, Vancouver. For more details, please visit www.peaceforumteachin.org.   Julie Lévesque is an independent Journalist and Associate Editor at Global Research focussing on the complex dynamics of this new offensive. For further details, see the following GR articles recommended by Julie Lévesque  “Greater Israel”: The Zionist Plan for the Middle East Preparing the Chessboard for the “Clash of Civilizations”: Divide, Conquer and Rule the “New Middle East” “We're going to take out 7 countries in 5 years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan & Iran..” ISIS to the Rescue: America's Terrorists Threaten War with Russia Amid NATO's Failures in Ukraine Former French Foreign Minister: The War against Syria was Planned Two years before “The Arab Spring” SYRIA: CIA-MI6 Intel Ops and Sabotage  NATO and Turkey Support Armed Rebels in Syria. Campaign to Recruit Muslim “Freedom Fighters” Syria: ISIS Rebels, Assisted by Israel, Jordan and the U.S., Detain UN Peacekeepers in Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights | Global Research Corrections: Israel Shahak is the translator of “The Zionist Plan for the Middle East” and not the author;  Ariel Sharon in 1982 was Israel's Defence Minister. He became Prime Minister in 2001.

  Co-Host Ron March will discuss ISIS The Islamic State (IS) the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL ...the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS  is a Sunni jihadist group in the Middle East. it claims religious authority over all Muslims across the world and aspires to bring most of the Muslim-inhabited regions of the world under its political control beginning with Iraq.

The Jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), alternatively known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has enjoyed spectacular successes overthrowing and controlling territory from northern Syria to the outskirts of Baghdad in Iraq. Previously referred to as Al Qaeda in the Islamic State of Iraq (AQI), the group got its name in April of 2013. For a group estimated to be composed of merely a few thousand militants, the organization has secured astonishing victories over much larger armed forces. [2] The group's first major military success was the conquest of Raqqa in Northern Syria in March of 2013. Since that victory, ISIS has successfully gained control of the Iraqi cities of Tal Afar, Tikrit, Suleiman Beg, and Fallujah. [3] Perhaps their most impressive and shocking achievement to date, and the one that galvanized the attention of the world back to Iraq, was the conquest of Iraq's second most populous city, Mosul. ISIS managed to not only secure this crucial trading post proximate to Syria, but they managed to get hold of weaponry and equipment abandoned when the Iraq security forces fled the city. [4] How is it possible such a relatively small group of rebels could manage to outmaneuver a force presence of 30,000? Michel Chossudovsky of the Centre for Research on Globalization has been tracking these developments. He contends that the rise of ISIS is not a miscalculation on the part of the US-NATO alliance, but is in fact a deliberate strategy to re-engineer the region to advance their imperial aims there. He explains his thesis in part one of the Global Research News Hour. The recent elections in Syria have been described as “meaningless” and “a great big zero” by the US Secretary of State John Kerry. He argues given the state of conflict in the Middle Eastern country that “you can't have an election where millions of your people don't even have an ability to vote.” [5] The final vote posted by the Speaker of the People's Assembly announced that the incumbent President secured a land-slide victory of over 88% with a 73.42% voter turn-out. [6] While a dictatorial power in a time of civil war might have the capacity to gerrymander election results to his satisfaction, is there any indication that this is in fact what happened? Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is a Research Associate with the Centre for Research on Globalization and a published author. He served as an election observer during the recent Syrian elections and discloses in the second half hour of the Global Research News Hour why he believes the elections were above board, and what role these elections, particularly the perception of them being fraudulent, serves in the broader geo-political context.