ABC: Secret Service 'Aware' of Apparent ISIS Flag Photo in Front of the White House

[RansomthePasserby]

In the end the police could do nothing as this guy wasn't doing anything illegal.

How is recruiting for a terrorist organization NOT illegal???

[Burgold]

Mark me amongst those who look at the concern here as potential fearmongering.

 

That shot, if real, is not a shocker.  Thousands of people pass by the White House every day without restriction. Protests are ongoing practically every day of the year... there's been an anti-nuclear protest that has actually been going non-stop there for decades.  Unless we wanted to change access to the White House and that area and change our basic definitions of freedom of speech and movement then this is just a daily nothing.

 

It may be distasteful, but it's hardly illegal or scary.  At least not scarier than what we already contend with every day of the year.

[DaGoonie55]

How is recruiting for a terrorist organization NOT illegal???

 

You can join any club, gang, niche, or terrorist organization you want, this is america.  You cannot plan, gather supplies for, or solicit help with the carrying out of terrorist activities.  Ask Jim Jones.

[Bang]

Shocking or not, the White House should be aware of it.

As should we.. while we've spent the last decade re-acquainting ourselves with the fact that the majority of the muslim world is perfectly fine, there is a fraction that does indeed want to be every bit as evil as the propaganda says they are.

We know that this small minority is relentless and capable of tremendous destruction.

We should absolutely remain vigilant against those who would harm us.

And people carrying ISIS flags likely fall into the category, or at least put themselves under suspicion of being in that category.

if it's some dickhead kid out looking for laughs, I guess he should find out how unfunny it is to show support for the enemy.

I don't think that we, as regular citizens should be terribly alarmed by the photo, it could be any of the theories y'all are floating up. But it also could be there's some dangerous people here, and if they are at the WH fence, then the Secret Service should definitely be aware.

~Bang

[Burgold]

Don't disagree with that either, Bang.

Truth is the White House is a vulnerable site and it's how we generally we want it. We want access to it. So, it's a reality that we have to deal with and requires a degree of vigilance and risk for our leaders and those tasked w protecting them.

[dfitzo53]

Shocking or not, the White House should be aware of it.

As should we.. while we've spent the last decade re-acquainting ourselves with the fact that the majority of the muslim world is perfectly fine, there is a fraction that does indeed want to be every bit as evil as the propaganda says they are.

We know that this small minority is relentless and capable of tremendous destruction.

We should absolutely remain vigilant against those who would harm us.

And people carrying ISIS flags likely fall into the category, or at least put themselves under suspicion of being in that category.

if it's some dickhead kid out looking for laughs, I guess he should find out how unfunny it is to show support for the enemy.

I don't think that we, as regular citizens should be terribly alarmed by the photo, it could be any of the theories y'all are floating up. But it also could be there's some dangerous people here, and if they are at the WH fence, then the Secret Service should definitely be aware.

~Bang

I guess my point is they (terrorists) are there, they have been there before, and the Secret Service is as aware as they can be.

 

Again, it's a public place.  It's like saying we need to be aware that there are potential terrorists in the grocery store.  I get that the White House fence feels different than the grocery store, but in terms of ease of approach there isn't much difference.  If the Secret Service felt it was risky to allow people to walk up to the fence they wouldn't allow it.  As others have said, there are crowds of people there every day.

[JMS]

We haven't been supporting the Kurds for the last 20+ years.

 

We pretty much abandoned them after the original Gulf War, and we certainly weren't supporting them over any fighting they were doing that might have interfered with the central government in Iraq consolidating power over the last few years.

 

I doubt over much of the last 20 years for example the Kurds have gotten any real direct training from the US.

 

Even read your piece, other than on ex-US translator (that then has a US issued weapon), the others have older non-US weapons.

About US Support for the Kurdish Peshmerga dating back 20 years...

Our joint history with Israel in support of the Kurdish Peshmerga is a long one dating back decades.

1960's. Senior Mossad official Eliezer Tsafrir,a says, Israel had military advisers at the headquarters of Mulla Mustafa Barzani ( Kurdish Patriot 1946-79), and trained and supplied the Kurdish units with firearms and field and anti-aircraft artillery.

"Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the U.S.". New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. see pg 161.

http://books.google.dk/books?id=1ig7vi3Oc9QC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=&source=bl&ots=KfY7IukV2y&sig=SOK37D3nZ-MfcrfB_WDbBdidQMM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7KPyUN7wNY35sga2-oCYCA&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false

1972/1973 Nixon first started military aid of the Kurdish Peshmerga against the Bathe party which had just come to power in Iraq. We did this in conjunction and with the support of the Shah of Iran.

1990 during the first Gulf war, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, asks U.S. Sec of State Baker, to protect the Kurds.

in 1991 after the first gulf war, a 'safe haven' is set up in the kurdish regions of Iraq, sponsored by the US and sanctioned by the UN.

1991 Apr 16, Then President Bush announces US forces would be sent into northern Iraq to assist Kurds

1991, Apr 20th, US Marines landed in northern Iraq

1993 the CIA uses covert aid to create Asayesh ( kurdish for security ). A core Kurdish intelligence organizsation which the CIA has supported since the early 1990's to pressent.

http://agonist.org/a_detour_with_kurdish_secret_police/

In 1996 we conducted military operations like Operation Desert Strike (B-52 strikes, 40 cruize missiles) to safeguard the Kurdish regions from Iraqi Invasion. We also at times deployed aircraft carriers and expanded our no fly zone in Iraq in support of the Kurds.

In 1997 we sucessfully concluded the peace talks which ended the Kurdish civil war between the PUK and KDP.

The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 passed by congress and signed into law by Bill Clinton provided additional direct military aid for the Kurds.

In 2003 the Kurds and US special forces conducted sucessful joint operations inside Iraq prior to our second gulf war invasion.

In 2004, Israeli officials’ meetings with Kurdish political leaders and then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon publicly assert Israel’s good relations with Iraqi Kurds

Dozens of Israelis with backgrounds in elite combat training reported working for private Israeli companies in northern Iraq, helping Kurds there establish elite antiterror units.

http://jcpa.org/article/the-future-of-kurdistan-between-turkey-the-iraq-war-and-the-syrian-revolt/

 

Generally, I'm of the view of this sort of stuff, who cares.

Given we now are conducting multiple air strikes a day on behalf of the Peshmerga, and given ISIS is now being called the most dangerous terrorist force ever, and given we now have more than 1000 troops on the ground in oposition to ISIS.. and the president has spoken out on ISIS sereal times in as many days.. I think not many informed people agree with your general assessment.

[PeterMP]

About US Support for the Kurdish Peshmerga dating back 20 years...

Our joint history with Israel in support of the Kurdish Peshmerga is a long one dating back decades.

Given we now are conducting multiple air strikes a day on behalf of the Peshmerga, and given ISIS is now being called the most dangerous terrorist force ever, and given we now have more than 1000 troops on the ground in oposition to ISIS.. and the president has spoken out on ISIS sereal times in as many days.. I think not many informed people agree with your general assessment.

 

I know two Kurds, and they don't actually like us very much:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_uprisings_in_Iraq

 

"Within the first two weeks, most of Iraq's cities and provinces fell to rebel forces. Participants of the uprising were a diverse mix of ethnic, religious and political affiliations, including military mutineers, Shia Arab Islamists, Kurdish nationalists, and far-left groups. Following initial victories, the revolution was held back from continued success by internal divisions as well as a lack of anticipated American support."

 

"In addition, the Gulf War ceasefire agreement of March 3 prohibited the Iraqi military's use of fixed-wing aircraft over the country, but allowed them to fly helicopters because most bridges had been destroyed.[22] The outgunned rebels had little heavy weapons and few surface-to-air missiles, which made them almost defenseless against helicopter gunships and indiscriminate artillery barrages when the Ba'athists responded to the uprisings with crushing force."

 

"Kurdish uprising in the north of the country collapsed even more quickly than it began. After ousting the Peshmerga from Kirkuk on March 29, the government tanks rolled into Dahuk and Irbil on March 30, Zakho on April 1, and Sulaymaniyah, the last important town held by the rebels, on April 3. The advance of government forces was halted at Kore, a narrow valley near the ruins of Qaladiza, where a successful defense was held by the Kurds led by Massoud Barzani. According to the United States Department of State and the Foreign Affairs group of the Parliament of Australia, Iranian rebel organization People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI, also known as MEK), sheltered in Iraq by Saddam Hussein, assisted the Republican Guard in brutally suppressing the uprisings.[25][26] Maryam Rajavi has been reported by former PMOI members as having said, "Take the Kurds under your tanks, and save your bullets for the

Iranian Revolutionary Guards.""

 

"In March and early April, nearly two million Iraqis, 1.5 million of them Kurds,[32] escaped from strife-torn cities to the mountains along the northern borders, into the southern marshes, and to Turkey and Iran. By April 6, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) estimated that about 750,000 Iraqi Kurds had fled to Iran and 280,000 to Turkey, with 300,000 more gathered at the Turkish border.[20] Their exodus was sudden and chaotic with thousands of desperate refugees fleeing on foot, on donkeys, or crammed onto open-backed trucks and tractors. Many were gunned down by Republican Guard helicopters, which deliberately strafed columns of fleeing civilians in a number of incidents in both the north and south.[14] Numerous refugees were also killed or maimed by stepping on land mines planted by Iraqi troops near the eastern border during the war with Iran. According to the U.S. Department of State and international relief organizations, between 500 and 1,000 Kurds died each day along Iraq's Turkish border.[20] According to some reports, up to hundreds of refugees died each day along the way to Iran as well."

 

(I added the bold).

 

And where was our support while this revolution was crushed and innocent unarmed people were being killed from strafing from helicopters?

 

That's how we treat our allies?

 

Bush (the first one) (and others in the US government) essentially begged for a revolution in Iraq and when they got one, they said, sorry we aren't going to do anything.

 

We use the Kurds when it is convenient to us.  Nothing more and nothing less.

 

If anything was embarrassing with respect to the US government it is was the way in which the Iraqi military (that actually had been trained and supplied by the US military) ran in places like Tikrit without even firing a shot.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/18/opinion/bergen-does-isis-pose-threat-to-us/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

 

"Now King is back at it again, telling NBC last week, "ISIS is a direct threat to the United States of America. ... They are more powerful now than al Qaeda was on 9/11."

 

ISIS is surely a major problem for Iraq, and its tactics and strategy are abhorrent, such as its use of crucifixions and its genocidal attacks on the small Yazidi minority. But that doesn't mean it is a serious threat to the American homeland."

 

You want me to post some stuff from the early 1980's about the Soviet tanks being ready to roll over Europe and their nuclear missiles being aimed at US cities?

 

If the ISIS was functioning in central Africa, nobody in the US would really care very much.

 

The ISIS is only really important because of two reasons.

 

oil and Israel.

[JMS]

I know two Kurds, and they don't actually like us very much:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_uprisings_in_Iraq

 

"Within the first two weeks, ,,,,,

That was 25 years ago. We supported the kurd's before that... We've supported the kurds after that. I think the key point you are missing is during that 1991 campagne against the Kurds which your source says we didn't support them on... The facts are we are the ones who stoped Saddam in 1991.

And in our 2003 war and occupation of Iraq, not a single US soldier was killed in Northern Iraq under Kurdish control.

Also while part of Iraq and we want them to be part of Iraq as you alluded too.. Facts are they've been largely autonamous since the early 1990's.

see Newyorker's recent article..

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/will-u-s-help-kurds-fight-isis]http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/will-u-s-help-kurds-fight-isis

Clearly the Kurds are among the most Pro-American people in the ME.

 

Obama does, however, have one potential ally with boots on the ground in Iraq. It is one of the most pro-American places on the planet and its soldiers are well disciplined, highly motivated and prepared to die for their country. That place is Kurdistan

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/iraq-independent-kurdistan-107958.html

Kurdistan, an oasis of stability and tolerance in the Middle East

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11024873/It-would-be-an-utter-tragedy-if-we-did-not-defend-the-Kurds.html

More than 25 million Kurds in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey are largely secular and pro-Western. Kurds understand that democracy and individual rights are compatible with Islamic values.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/iraqi-kurds_b_1912568.html

The Kurds are among America’s best friends in the Middle East; they are pro-Western, largely secular, and largely democratic. Since 1991.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/will-u-s-help-kurds-fight-isis

[thebluefood]

Yeah, I'm not ready to sound the alarm. My guess is its just some "edgy" jackass trying to shock people.

[visionary]

 

If the ISIS was functioning in central Africa, nobody in the US would really care very much.

 

The ISIS is only really important because of two reasons.

 

oil and Israel.

Disagree strongly.  ISIS is a bigger threat to the US (and a much bigger threat to our many other allies around the world) than it is to Israel, despite being next door to them.

They haven't really shown much interest in Israel and don't have recruits or support there.

This isn't something contained to Central Africa it's happening across the Middle East and reaching out into Europe, Australia, Africa, Russia, and the US.

Not saying we're going to be seeing bombing attempts tomorrow, but we'd be fools not to be keeping an eye on them and they are a huge threat internationally.

[JMS]

Yeah, I'm not ready to sound the alarm. My guess is its just some "edgy" jackass trying to shock people.

Nobody in US intelligence, US Military, or US Security organizations agree with you...

ISIS is catagorized as the most capable and best financed terrorist organizaiton in the history of Terrorist organizations. They have hundreds of American and Western passport holders fighting for them in Iraq and Syria; and we are on high alert about those folks coming home and fermenting terror.

This White House Photo is a response to our targetting ISIS..

[PeterMP]

That was 25 years ago. We supported the kurd's before that... We've supported the kurds after that.

Clearly the Kurds are among the most Pro-American people in the ME.

 

 

 

They certainly support us more than most other people in the ME, but that doesn't really mean that we've been very supportive of them.

 

Saying that they like us more than most people in the ME isn't saying much either.  Saying they like us more than they did Saddam isn't really saying much.

 

We support the Kurds when it is convenient for us.

 

When we want to see some destabilization of Iraq, Iran, and appearantly the ISIS, support the Kurds.

 

When it means maybe doing some real work or moving to what their real objective is, no we don't support them.

 

When they tried to take Kirkuk as part of their territory after the Maliki government had been put into place, who put people on the ground and told them to go back home.

 

We did.  We supported the central government in Iraq over the Kurds.

 

They would have entered Kirkuk, but we told them their "troops" could not enter Kirkuk and sent them back.

 

Support them selling "their" oil.

 

Nope!

 

Support the Iraqi central government.

 

http://www.the-american-interest.com/blog/2014/08/14/turkey-to-us-let-the-kurds-sell-their-oil/

[Dan T.]

It appears Issis is extremely and suprissingly competent militarily.  ...

Worse is that with every sucess ISSIS's numbers grow   ...,will bring them into direct conflict with ISSIS..

The extra "S" is for "Super"... The Islamic Super State of Iraq and Syria.

 

and we are on high alert about those folks coming home and fermenting terror.

Well, it IS Beer Week in DC.

 

This White House Photo is a response to our targetting ISIS..

So you have inside info on that?

 

[JMS]

Disagree strongly.  ISIS is a bigger threat to the US (and a much bigger threat to our many other allies around the world) than it is to Israel, despite being next door to them.

They haven't really shown much interest in Israel and don't have recruits or support there.

This isn't something contained to Central Africa it's happening across the Middle East and reaching out into Europe, Australia, Africa, Russia, and the US.

Not saying we're going to be seeing bombing attempts tomorrow, but we'd be fools not to be keeping an eye on them and they are a huge threat internationally.

I think our bombing campagn against ISIS on behalf of the Kurds have brought us into the bullseye earlier than we otherwise would have.. But it seems like any non moslem people will eventually be targeted by ISIS.. They certainly would have gotten around to us on their own.. as they will to Israel.

Currently ISIS has no boarder with Israel. They have their hands full with the Syrian Army and the other Syrian Rebel Groups..

[PeterMP]

Disagree strongly.  ISIS is a bigger threat to the US (and a much bigger threat to our many other allies around the world) than it is to Israel, despite being next door to them.

They haven't really shown much interest in Israel and don't have recruits or support there.

This isn't something contained to Central Africa it's happening across the Middle East and reaching out into Europe, Australia, Africa, Russia, and the US.

Not saying we're going to be seeing bombing attempts tomorrow, but we'd be fools not to be keeping an eye on them and they are a huge threat internationally.

 

A bigger threat than what?

 

Worse case scenario, beyond the ME, what is the ISIS going to do?

 

They going to over throw Australia?

[JMS]

So you have inside info on that?

Do I need inside information? Since The FBI, Military and Secret Service have all commented publically that they are taking the ISIS threats seriously.

[visionary]

A bigger threat than what?

 

Worse case scenario, beyond the ME, what is the ISIS going to do?

 

They going to over throw Australia?

Huh?

I don't think I need to explain how terrorism works.

[JMS]

A bigger threat than what?

 

Worse case scenario, beyond the ME, what is the ISIS going to do?

 

They going to over throw Australia?

One vote unconcerned with International Terrorism..

What part of the most dangerous militant group in the world doesn't impress you? I'm not saying we need to shake in our boots... but shesh... I think we should be aware especially since we are bombing the snott out of them.

[Dan T.]

Do I need inside information? Since The FBI, Military and Secret Service have all commented publically that they are taking the ISIS threats seriously.

 

 

I don't doubt that.  I'm just not convinced that one yuck-a-putz with an Ipad in Lafayette Square means that ISIS is ready to storm the White House. 

[PeterMP]

Huh?

I don't think I need to explain how terrorism works.

 

We all understand how terrorism works, but terrorism is carried out achieve some end, some result.

 

It can be argued that terrorism against France in Algeria resulted in a free Algeria.

 

It can be argued that terrorism against the British post-WWII in and around what is current day Israel resulted in the British supporting a Jewish state.

 

Is ISIS terrorism going to result in the collapse of the current Constitutional Australian government?

 

What is the worse case scenario?

One vote unconcerned with International Terrorism..

What part of the most dangerous militant group in the world doesn't impress you? I'm not saying we need to shake in our boots... but shesh... I think we should be aware especially since we are bombing the snott out of them.

 

Right, but we are bombing the snot out of them, why?

 

Because they are this dangerous militant terrorist organization that need to be stopped.

 

Once we decide we need to start bombing them, then you better care because they are going to really start not liking you.

 

But why should we have cared so much that we started bombing them?

 

Were they going to over throw the Australian government?

 

oil and Israel

 

That's it.

 

I generally think that we blow things that aren't very large threats (to us) into these huge "generational crisis" threats.

[JMS]

We support the Kurds when it is convenient for us.

Yeah, when it's convient... like for the last 2 decades. and twenty years before that....

We aren't on board for Kurdish indepednence, because that would bring us into conflict with important allies like Turkey.. But we certainly have created and maintained a security zone in northern Iraq for the Kurds since the very early 1990's. This has included air strikes, US military boots on the ground, and military aid. We've had numerous joint opperations between the US and the Peshmerga against Saddam's Iraq, Iranian forces, and now ISIS..

I don't doubt that.  I'm just not convinced that one yuck-a-putz with an Ipad in Lafayette Square means that ISIS is ready to storm the White House.

Nobody thinks Isis is going to storm the white house... The fear is they have or shortly will have cells set up in the US. They have a huge number of Westerners in their ranks and their support is growing exponentially with every victory.

[visionary]

We all understand how terrorism works, but terrorism is carried out achieve some end, some result.

 

It can be argued that terrorism against France in Algeria resulted in a free Algeria.

 

It can be argued that terrorism against the British post-WWII in and around what is current day Israel resulted in the British supporting a Jewish state.

 

Is ISIS terrorism going to result in the collapse of the current Constitutional Australian government?

 

What is the worse case scenario?

These guys are doing this for the purpose of expanding territory and creating a global Caliphate centered in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, by cleansing the area of 'apostates', people of other religions. and people they don't get along with and reaching out across the world to increase their support, their wealth, and their fighting ability and strike out at those they view as their enemies (a list that is constantly changing).

 

The worse case scenario....  Who knows.  9-11?  Worse?   Much worse?  I don't get why people are going out of their way to downplay something that's generally agreed to be an issue by most foreign policy and jihad/terrorism experts.

[JMS]

Right, but we are bombing the snot out of them, why?

 

Because they are this dangerous militant terrorist organization that need to be stopped.

 

Once we decide we need to start bombing them, then you better care because they are going to really start not liking you.

 

But why should we have cared so much that we started bombing them?

 

Were they going to over throw the Australian government?

 

oil and Israel

 

That's it.

 

I generally think that we blow things that aren't very large threats (to us) into these huge "generational crisis" threats.

Well we started bombing them because they made dramatic advances in Iraq which caught us off guard resulting in US lives being put danger. So we bombed them to safeguard US lives... that's the stated reason..

As for blowing things that arent' a very large threat... again you confuse the hell out of me...

Largest most dangeorus militarnt group in the world? Most capable, largest, best financed terorist organization in the world? These don't sound like properties which we could "blow out of proportion", given we are still conducting a war on terror..

Isis is Al Quada on steroids, setting up it's own country.

And yeah the net effect of our bombing campagn was we also protected tens of thousands of pro western moderate Izizi; and a moderate democratic pro western group in the Kurds who have been good allies for us.

[JMS]

What is the worse case scenario?

What is worse than this?

This...

 

 

And while that looks like a huge advance...  If you look at the ISIS controled map from June,  the difference between what ISIS controled then and now would seem like an unbelieveable advance..

 

There was a three week period there where Iraqi forces dropped their arms and ran from them,  and even the Kurdish Peshmerga retreated from them...