Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Slain American journalist remembered as driven
• Officials: US rescue mission in Syria failed
• FBI chief calls Islamic terror group 'savages'
• Officials: U.S. rescue mission in Syria failed
• Obama: US won't stop confronting Islamic State
• US attempted rescue of American hostages in Syria
• Obama: U.S. won't stop confronting Islamic State
• Why did Islamic State militants execute James Foley?
• Remembering Slain Journalist James Foley
• U.S. Special Forces Attempted to Rescue James Foley This Summer
• Social media pushes back at militant propaganda
• Beheading video puts spotlight on British jihadists
• A New Social Media App for Veterans Uses GPS Tracking to Save Lives
• CEO: Kidnappers threatened Foley's life last week
• Islamic State video shows conversion of Yazidis to Islam
• Extremists told family Foley would be killed
• Obama warns of jihadist 'cancer' in Iraq as reporter slain
• White House knew of recent ISIS threat to kill U.S. journalist
• Obama condemns killing of reporter, U.S. hits militants in Iraq
• Gaza war rages on, Hamas says Israel tried to kill its military chief
• Oil prices advance on signs of stronger US demand
• U.S. officials: Military mulling more troops to Iraq
• Kuwait detains Muslim cleric suspected of funding militants: security source
• Britain seeks to identify US journalist's executioner
• Text of Obama's remarks on slain journalist
• US weighs sending up to 300 troops to Iraq for security
• Mother of US journalist Foley says never prouder of son
• James Foley's murder puts spotlight on journalists in conflict zones
• U.S. could send another 300 military personnel to Iraq: official
• McCain calls for dramatic increase in US airstrikes against Islamic State
• With Obama a recluse on holiday, tourists make do with 'Obamaritas'
• UK launches hunt for man with British accent on beheading video
• James Foley's parents: 'He was a martyr, a martyr for freedom'
• UAE ruler approves lengthy counter-terrorism law
• Netanyahu sees extended Gaza military campaign
• For jihadists, social media a platform to recruit, spread fear
• Strong Words from Obama on ISIS, but No Promise of Action
• Obama urges joint effort to end jihadist 'cancer'
• Islamic State opens new anti-U.S. front with beheading video
• James Foley's Executioner Is a Known Hostage Negotiator for ISIL

Slain American journalist remembered as driven Posted: 20 Aug 2014 05:02 PM PDT ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — In 2011, just after James Foley was released from the Libyan prison where he'd been held for six weeks, he acknowledged the peril journalists face covering the world's most dangerous places, soberly conceding that a mistake could mean death.

Officials: US rescue mission in Syria failed Posted: 20 Aug 2014 04:59 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama sent special operations troops to Syria this summer on a secret mission to rescue American hostages, including journalist James Foley, held by Islamic State group extremists, but they did not find them, the Obama administration said Wednesday.

FBI chief calls Islamic terror group 'savages' Posted: 20 Aug 2014 04:46 PM PDT DENVER (AP) — FBI Director James Comey says Islamic State extremists who executed journalist James Foley are "savages" and that the agency is helping investigate the killing.

Officials: U.S. rescue mission in Syria failed Posted: 20 Aug 2014 04:36 PM PDT President Barack Obama sent U.S. troops to Syria earlier this summer to rescue a number of Americans held by a violent extremist group, including slain journalist James Foley, but did not find the hostages, senior Obama administration officials said Wednesday.

Obama: US won't stop confronting Islamic State Posted: 20 Aug 2014 04:32 PM PDT President Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to continue to confront Islamic State militants despite the beheading of an American journalist in Iraq.

US attempted rescue of American hostages in Syria Posted: 20 Aug 2014 04:26 PM PDT US personnel recently tried to rescue American hostages held in Syria by the so-called Islamic State (IS) but failed, the Pentagon and White House said Wednesday, a day after the militants released a video of a US reporter being beheaded. "The United States attempted a rescue operation recently to free a number of American hostages held in Syria by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (IS)," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.

Obama: U.S. won't stop confronting Islamic State Posted: 20 Aug 2014 04:26 PM PDT President Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to continue to confront Islamic State militants despite the beheading of an American journalist in Iraq, standing firm in the face of the militants' threats to kill another hostage unless the U.S. military changes course.

Why did Islamic State militants execute James Foley? Posted: 20 Aug 2014 04:02 PM PDT The video of the beheading of American journalist James Foley features a black-robed Islamic State militant claiming – in British-accented English – that the execution is in retribution for recent US air strikes against IS forces in Iraq. The video also shows another prone and bound captured American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and issues a warning that he will suffer the same fate if the US pursues its military campaign against fighters for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. In addition to President Obama – whom the black-robed executioner addresses directly – the message is intended for other Western leaders, moderate Muslims who would stand in IS's way, as well as young radicalized Muslims from Britain to Yemen who are drawn to the Islamists' fight. "Clearly this kind of message has multiple audiences, and it wasn't just President Obama and other Western decision-makers," says Jerrold Post, a professor of political psychology at George Washington University in Washington and author of "The Mind of a Terrorist." "I think it's meant to remind moderate Muslims that they can expect to be treated just as harshly."

Remembering Slain Journalist James Foley Posted: 20 Aug 2014 03:39 PM PDT Beheaded Journalist Entered Conflict Zones to 'Understand the World'

U.S. Special Forces Attempted to Rescue James Foley This Summer Posted: 20 Aug 2014 03:39 PM PDT Pentagon officials have said that earlier this summer, military special forces were sent into Syria to rescue American citizens being held captive by ISIS. Journalist James Foley was reportedly among these hostages.  The secret mission arrived on the ground in Syria where they believed Foley and others were being held captive, however, there was no trace of the hostages by that time. The United States attempted a rescue operation recently to free a number of American hostages held in Syria by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Social media pushes back at militant propaganda Posted: 20 Aug 2014 03:37 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — The extremists of the Islamic State group have turned their social media into a theater of horror, broadcasting a stomach-turning stream of battles, bombings and beheadings to a global audience.

Beheading video puts spotlight on British jihadists Posted: 20 Aug 2014 03:32 PM PDT The distinct English accent of the militant seen beheading US journalist James Foley in a grisly online video has forced Britain once again to confront the question of how it became an exporter of jihadist fighters. The video, published on Tuesday, has also left Britain nervously wondering how many potential jihadists are walking its streets and whether the return of fighters from Iraq and Syria will bring the violence home. Experts say young British men are often driven into the arms of jihadist groups such as the Islamic State (IS) by adolescent feelings of alienation, often resulting from their backgrounds as second or third generation of immigrant families, as well as poor economic prospects which they contrast with the perceived glory of bloody martyrdom.

A New Social Media App for Veterans Uses GPS Tracking to Save Lives Posted: 20 Aug 2014 03:26 PM PDT Wood teamed up with Anthony Allman to create a free iPhone app dubbed Position Report, or POS REP for short, that aims to prevent vets from feeling alone and without resources. How do we make sure that veterans know they have a peer network they can rely on in a time of need?" said Allman of the questions that help form the app's mission.

CEO: Kidnappers threatened Foley's life last week Posted: 20 Aug 2014 03:20 PM PDT BOSTON (AP) — The chief executive officer of a Boston-based media company says James Foley's kidnappers last week threatened to kill him in response to U.S. bombings in Iraq.

Islamic State video shows conversion of Yazidis to Islam Posted: 20 Aug 2014 03:20 PM PDT By Michael Georgy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State, a militant group that witnesses and officials say has executed hundreds of members of Iraq's Yazidis, has released a video that seeks to show it enlightened hundreds of members of the religious minority by converting them to Islam. The production was issued not long after the group on Tuesday released a video showing one of its black-clad fighters beheading American journalist James Foley, sparking international outrage. The Yazidis, followers of an ancient religion derived from Zoroastrianism who are part of the country's Kurdish minority, have paid the highest price for Islamic State's dramatic advance through northern Iraq. Islamic State militants, widely seen as more hardline than al Qaeda, storm into villages armed with machine guns and give Yazidis a simple choice: convert to Islam or die.

Extremists told family Foley would be killed Posted: 20 Aug 2014 02:57 PM PDT Jihadists told the family of American journalist James Foley this month that he would be executed, one of the media outlets he worked for said Wednesday, after he was beheaded. Philip Balboni, chief executive of news site GlobalPost, to which Foley contributed while covering the war in Libya and then Syria before his abduction there in 2012, said the journalist's captors had been in touch in the weeks before his murder. "We've had communication with the captors, and there was at one time a receptivity to a negotiation that would lead to a release," Balboni told MSNBC television. Balboni then stated that, after the beginning of US air strikes in Iraq -- the first since the end of the Iraq war -- the Islamic State warned the Foleys that their son would be killed.

Obama warns of jihadist 'cancer' in Iraq as reporter slain Posted: 20 Aug 2014 02:22 PM PDT US President Barack Obama on Wednesday demanded the world take action against the "cancer" of jihadist extremism in Iraq, after militants murdered an American reporter. As US jets continued to strike jihadist targets despite a threat to kill a second reporter, Obama said: "When people harm Americans anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done." Shortly after he spoke, the State Department asked for 300 more US troops to be sent to Iraq to protect US facilities. Obama was speaking after the so-called "Islamic State," which has seized much of eastern Syria and northern Iraq, released a video showing a masked militant beheading US reporter James Foley.

White House knew of recent ISIS threat to kill U.S. journalist Posted: 20 Aug 2014 02:10 PM PDT ISIS had recently threatened to kill U.S. journalist James Foley to avenge airstrikes the United States has conducted in Iraq, a senior U.S. official told ABC News. The White House had been aware of the threat prior to the release of a video Tuesday night...

Obama condemns killing of reporter, U.S. hits militants in Iraq Posted: 20 Aug 2014 01:11 PM PDT President Barack Obama expressed revulsion on Wednesday at the beheading of an American journalist by Islamist militants and vowed the United States would do what it must to protect its citizens as international condemnation of the insurgents grew. Not long after Obama called Islamic State a "cancer" with a bankrupt ideology, the Pentagon said U.S.

Gaza war rages on, Hamas says Israel tried to kill its military chief Posted: 20 Aug 2014 01:01 PM PDT By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike in Gaza killed the wife and infant son of Hamas's military leader, Mohammed Deif, the group said, calling it an attempt to assassinate him after a ceasefire collapsed. Palestinians launched more than 180 rockets on Tuesday and Wednesday, mainly at southern Israel, with some intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the military said. Israeli aircraft have carried out more than 100 strikes in the Gaza Strip since Tuesday, Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon said, the military adding it was "targeting terror sites". Hamas and medical officials said 23 people had died in the latest Israeli raids, including Deif's wife and seven-month-old son.

Oil prices advance on signs of stronger US demand Posted: 20 Aug 2014 12:58 PM PDT Global oil prices rebounded Wednesday from multi-month lows after a surprisingly big drop in US oil inventories. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery jumped $1.59 to $96.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, recovering from a seven-month low hit Tuesday. European benchmark Brent oil for October delivery gained 72 cents to close at $102.28 a barrel in London, rallying from the 14-month low the day before. "Crude stocks dropped a lot more than expected," said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities.

U.S. officials: Military mulling more troops to Iraq Posted: 20 Aug 2014 12:56 PM PDT U.S. officials say military planners are weighing the possibility of sending more American forces to Iraq mainly to provide additional security around Baghdad.

Kuwait detains Muslim cleric suspected of funding militants: security source Posted: 20 Aug 2014 12:39 PM PDT Kuwait detained a prominent Sunni Muslim cleric at the Gulf state's airport on Wednesday after the United States included him on a sanctions list on suspicion that he is funneling money to militants in Iraq and Syria, a security source told Reuters. Hajjaj al-Ajmi was detained at the airport on his arrival from Qatar, whose leadership supports Islamist groups such as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and gives refuge to prominent figures from Hamas and the Taliban but does not back the militant Islamists operating in Iraq and Syria.

Britain seeks to identify US journalist's executioner Posted: 20 Aug 2014 12:39 PM PDT Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday it seemed "increasingly likely" that US journalist James Foley was beheaded by a British jihadist, as experts sought to identify the English-accented executioner. Cameron, who broke off his holidays for emergency meetings on the threat posed by Islamic State militants operating in Iraq and Syria who orchestrated Foley's execution, said the killer's probable nationality was "deeply shocking". Following talks with senior ministers at his Downing Street office in London, he said "far too many" Britons had travelled to the region to join jihadist groups and spelled out measures to combat extremism. "We have not identified the individual responsible, but from what we have seen it looks increasingly likely that it is a British citizen.

Text of Obama's remarks on slain journalist Posted: 20 Aug 2014 12:30 PM PDT Text of President Barack Obama's remarks about American journalist James Foley, as provided by the White House. Foley was killed by Islamic State extremists shown in a video released Tuesday. The extremists called the beheading retribution for recent U.S. airstrikes in Iraq:

US weighs sending up to 300 troops to Iraq for security Posted: 20 Aug 2014 12:18 PM PDT The United States is weighing sending up to 300 troops to Iraq to reinforce security at American diplomatic installations, a senior US official said Wednesday. The request comes amid an intensifying US air campaign against Islamist militants in Iraq and follows the murder by Islamic State militants of US journalist James Foley. IS has threatened to kill a second hostage US journalist, Steven Sotloff, unless US President Barack Obama changes course.

Mother of US journalist Foley says never prouder of son Posted: 20 Aug 2014 12:10 PM PDT Friends, relatives and colleagues have paid tribute to American journalist James Foley, executed by Islamic State jihadists, with his parents praising their "fearless" son. Condolences and shocked messages poured in after the Islamist group released a video of Foley's beheading late Tuesday, including from French journalists who revealed they had been held alongside him in the past year. Foley, 40, had been missing since he was seized in Syria in November 2012. He was a courageous, fearless journalist, a very compassionate American.

James Foley's murder puts spotlight on journalists in conflict zones Posted: 20 Aug 2014 12:01 PM PDT The video-recorded execution of kidnapped American freelance journalist James Foley and threat to kill another freelancer, Steven Sotloff, by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militant group is raising questions about the safety of journalists, particularly freelancers, who go into conflict situations to report. At the time, he was reporting for GlobalPost and Agence France-Presse on the war in Syria and the fight against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. It is unknown how many other journalists IS is currently holding. They also focus fresh attention on the relationship between media outlets and the freelance journalists who choose to work in such dangerous situations.

U.S. could send another 300 military personnel to Iraq: official Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:56 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has requested additional military personnel to provide security in Iraq, a U.S. official said on Wednesday. The request for additional military personnel, which would include fewer than 300 people, has not yet been approved, the official said on condition of anonymity. The U.S. military has already sent more than 800 soldiers to Iraq since Islamic State fighters took over much of the country's north in June. (Reporting by Missy Ryan; Editing by Jim Loney)

McCain calls for dramatic increase in US airstrikes against Islamic State Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:55 AM PDT By Steve Holland EDGARTOWN Mass. (Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain called on Wednesday for a dramatic increase in U.S. McCain told Reuters that the beheading of American journalist James Foley by Islamic State militants should serve as a turning point for President Barack Obama's deliberations on how to deal with the group. "First of all, you've got to dramatically increase the airstrikes.

With Obama a recluse on holiday, tourists make do with 'Obamaritas' Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:55 AM PDT Against a backdrop of white boats bobbing in the harbor, summer visitors with windswept hair order scoops of Mad Martha's Ice Cream, and if they'd hoped U.S. President Barack Obama, vacationing nearby, would join them, they dream in vain. "We've all been waiting, but nothing," said Ena Pejkovic, 24, a cashier at the shop's Vineyard Haven location on the island of Martha's Vineyard, near which Obama is on holiday with his family. Obama's retreat, like his past four presidential stays on Martha's Vineyard, has been a private one, comprising regular tee-offs at an Oak Bluffs golf club, a few dinners at upscale restaurants, and an evening at a jazz concert.

UK launches hunt for man with British accent on beheading video Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:44 AM PDT By William James and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - British authorities launched a hunt on Wednesday for a man with an English accent who appeared in an Islamic State (IS) video purporting to show what Prime Minister David Cameron called the "barbaric and brutal" beheading of an American journalist. A masked IS jihadist, dressed in black, who stood next to a kneeling James Foley in the video released online spoke with what sounded like a London accent. The case had echoes of the brutal 2013 murder of British soldier Lee Rigby, who was hacked to death in a London street in broad daylight by two British Muslim converts, and of beheadings staged in the early years of the U.S.

James Foley's parents: 'He was a martyr, a martyr for freedom' Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:36 AM PDT The parents of James Foley, the American journalist whose brutal execution by Islamist militants was posted on YouTube, gave an emotional press conference outside their New Hampshire home on Wednesday.

UAE ruler approves lengthy counter-terrorism law Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:36 AM PDT DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The ruler of the United Arab Emirates approved a new counter-terrorism law that strengthens existing laws against money laundering, while also expanding penalties to include the death penalty, life imprisonment and fines of up to $27 million, state media reported Wednesday.

Netanyahu sees extended Gaza military campaign Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:27 AM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday Israel's military campaign in Gaza may be an extended operation and he accused the territory's Hamas rulers of using "savagery" against civilians just like Islamic State militants in Iraq. At a news conference in Tel Aviv, the Israeli premier said the Gaza war launched on July 8 "will be a continued campaign" aimed at restoring "calm and safety" to Israeli citizens. ...

For jihadists, social media a platform to recruit, spread fear Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:15 AM PDT A chilling video depicting the apparent murder of a US journalist by jihadists is just the latest salvo in an online war being waged by extremists on social media sites. Jihadist groups have long used their own media organisations to distribute messages and videos, but in recent years platforms like Twitter have given them an unprecedented, unfiltered ability to intimidate their opponents and recruit members. Their use of forums like Twitter and video-sharing site YouTube has not gone unchallenged, with jihadist accounts frequently shut down, though many quickly reopen, in a cat-and-mouse chase between administrators and users. The unverified video purporting to show the brutal killing of James Foley by jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group appeared on YouTube on Tuesday night.

Strong Words from Obama on ISIS, but No Promise of Action Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:11 AM PDT Calling the Islamic State a "cancer" that must be extracted from the Middle East, President Obama on Wednesday strongly condemned the terrorist group's execution-style murder of American journalist James Foley. Dressed casually in a sports jacket and no tie, Obama continued to refer to the group of terrorists that has taken over large swathes of Iraq and Syria in recent months as "ISIL," an acronym for the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant. While the group has begun calling itself simply the Islamic State, much of the media refers to it as ISIS, for the Islamic State is Iraq and Syria.

Obama urges joint effort to end jihadist 'cancer' Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:09 AM PDT US President Barack Obama called for a joint effort to eliminate the "cancer" of jihadist terror in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday, after Islamic State militants murdered an American journalist. Obama said the entire world was appalled by the beheading of 40-year-old reporter James Foley, which the IS fighters videotaped and published on the Internet. It has to be a clear rejection of these kind of nihilistic ideologies," Obama said.

Islamic State opens new anti-U.S. front with beheading video Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:08 AM PDT On Tuesday night, Islamic State released a video of its fighters beheading James Foley, who was kidnapped in Syria nearly two years ago. The black-clad executioner, who spoke English with a British accent, also produced another American journalist and said his fate depends on President Barack Obama's next move.

James Foley's Executioner Is a Known Hostage Negotiator for ISIL Posted: 20 Aug 2014 11:06 AM PDT The British government has started the hunt for the executioner of American reporter James Foley. Foley was killed by beheading and the video of the tragic act was publicly issued by ISIL-run media outlet AlFurqan. Prime Minister David Cameron cut his vacation short after just a day of rest to address the situation in Iraq following the discovery of the video, and the belief that the man responsible could be a British citizen. The executioner in the video was identified as British by his distinct South East/Greater London accent.

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