Antichrist Ready To Fight ISIS

Powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr: Militia ready to fight IS

US President Barack Obama granted war powers in the fight against Islamic State militants

AFP/Haidar Hamdani“Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech from the southern city of Najaf on February 18, 2014″

Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraq’s most powerful Shiite cleric has said that his militia has been put on alert to battle Islamic State (IS) militants for the city of Samarra.

Sadr’s “Peace Brigades” left the city two months ago but are “fully prepared to answer the call of jihad within 48 hours” and are awaiting further instruction, said a statement released on December 10.

His office said the announcement was due to “exceptional conditions and imminent danger to the sacred city of Samarra from the legions of terrorists.”

Samarra was home to the ninth century Imam Askari shrine which was blown up by Sunni militants eight years ago.

In June Sadr said in a televised speech from the Shiite holy cite of Najaf that “we will shake the ground under the feet of ignorance and extremism,” referring to Sunni insurgents who have overrun a swathe of territory in Iraq.

Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia, which battled US forces for years when American troops were stationed in Iraq during their country’s nearly nine-year war, remains officially inactive, but fighters loyal to the cleric have nevertheless vowed to combat the militant advance.

 Kerry calls for new three-year war powers to fight IS

S.Ramis, J.Jacobsen (AFP)“The Islamic State in Syria, Iraq”

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Thursday to authorize President Barack Obama’s war against the Islamic State. This is the first Congressional vote which will grant Obama war powers in the fight against the Islamic militants.

US Secretary of State John Kerry Tuesday urged lawmakers to adopt this authorization to underpin military action against Islamic State militants for at least three years, and passed by a vote of 10-8.

But during a heated debate, the top US diplomat came under fire from Republicans and Democrats who argued that if President Barack Obama wanted new powers to combat the jihadists, he should have drawn up a draft text to propose to the Senate.

So far, the Obama administration has used the existing authorization for use of military force against Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and their branches approved in the days after the September 11, 2001 attacks as the legal justification for going after IS.

Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations committee: “I think we all agree that this discussion must conclude with a bipartisan vote that makes clear that this is not one party’s fight against ISIL (IS), but rather that it reflects our unified determination to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL.”
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Our coalition partners need to know it. The men and women of our armed forces need to know it. And ISIL’s cadres of killers, rapists, and bigots need to understand it.”

The authorization would allow ground combat operations, except as necessary to protect or rescue US soldiers or citizens, conduct intelligence operations, spotters to help with airstrikes, operational planning or other forms of advice and assistance.

Kerry argued the new legal authority should “not constrain our ability” to act in other places if needed.

Obama has insisted he will not send US ground troops into combat operations against IS, saying that “will be the responsibility of local forces.”
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That does not mean we should preemptively bind the hands of the commander-in-chief — or our commanders in the field — in responding to scenarios and contingencies that are impossible to foresee,” Kerry said.

The authorization will be valid for three years with room for a possible extension, the administration must also report every 60 days on the fight against IS. Kerry also urged that the text should not limit US actions geographically to just Syria and Iraq.
(with AFP)