ISIS is expanding into Libya, will the U.S. strike? LA Times.

A bombed out warehouse in Libya. LA Times/AFP/Getty

ISIS has new training bases in the remote regions of Libya, causing concern for U.S. officials. LA Times. Hundreds of fighters are training in camps in eastern Libya and some fighters may have been spotted near Tripoli as well. Although there are no current plans to strike these camps, officials are starting to wonder what, if anything, should be done. Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 revolution, where the United States conducted airstrikes in support of rebels. After the overthrow of Gaddafi, the United States did nothing as the country fell into sectarian violence. It has not been determined if these camps are made up of fighters from Libya, or if they are from Iraq and Syria. ISIS allies also have control of the city of Derna. Officials are wary of new airstrikes due to the complicated situation involving many factions on the ground and fears of getting involved in yet another middle east conflict. 

My Comment:

Once again, the law of unintended consequences strikes again. Some people did speak out back in 2011 that overthrowing Gaddafi would turn Libya into a haven for terrorists and other extremists and throw the country into sectarian violence. All that has happened and more, and since the Benghazi attack, the United States involvement in the region has been limited. That has limited our options. These ISIS fighters are, of course, a threat. Not only could they eventually take more territory, they can provide fighters for the Iraq and Syrian conflict and perhaps strike at targets in Europe as well. 

As for ISIS, it is very disturbing that they have been able to spread so successfully. Iraq and Syria are the main countries that they have control in, but if they are taking and holding territory in Libya as well that means they aren't just a regional threat. They are a global one, and more should be done to fight them. I wouldn't have a problem with the air force or navy bombing these camps to oblivion, but I doubt there is any political will for any involvement in Libya. We are partially responsible for the situation there, but nobody, not in the United States or Europe, is willing to commit the resources necessary to save the country, let alone fight ISIS. I'm guessing that nothing will be done about ISIS in Libya until they either take over the country or conduct some kind of major terror attack. 

ISIS formed inside an U.S. prison in Iraq. The Guardian.

Camp Bucca in Iraq, where the leaders of ISIS first met. The Guardian/AFP

The Guardian has a detailed report, based on interviews with an active member of ISIS and an Iraqi General, details the history of the Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. The Jihadist, with the nom de guerre of Abu Ahmed, disillusioned with the war but too afraid to leave ISIS, detailed the history of ISIS. Ahmed describes how Camp Bucca, a prison in Iraq, concentrated several extremists in a small area. Abu Bakr first made waves in the camp by acting as a calming influence and an expert at conflict resolution. The leader of ISIS was released due to this.  While there, he and other Jihadists fostered relationships that would soon form the core of ISIS. Jihadis wrote contact info in the waistbands of their underwear and as they were released or escaped they joined up with ISIS's precursor group, Al-Qaeda in Iraq. With the death of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Abu Bakr became the courier for his replacement, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. When Abu Omar died Abu Bakr took over, along with his inner circle of Camp Bucca alumni. 

My Comment:

An excellent report from the Guardian. It is a bit long but well worth the read. My education was in criminal justice and one of the things we learned in college is how prisons are "finishing schools" for criminals. Petty criminals go in and by they time the get out they learn how to better commit crimes, in some cases even learning about new crimes they didn't have the knowledge to commit before. Obviously, when you put a bunch of potential terrorists together in with actual terrorists then instead of crime, terrorism is the new skill the prisoners are going to learn. Of course, I don't think there was much that could have been done to prevent this short of not letting any of the prisoners escape or be released. Hindsight is 20/20 but once again the United States has had a role in creating its own enemies. 

As for the other revelations it is fascinating to hear from someone inside of ISIS that is disillusioned with the cause and the violence. Whoever this Abu Ahmed is, he doesn't sound happy that he is stuck with ISIS. There is no chance that ISIS will let him leave and they may very well kill him if they figure out he was talking to the press. And even if he does escape I doubt he would escape western attention. The best case scenario for him is probably the inside of a prison cell. 

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is an interesting case as well. The fact that he was able to manipulate the guards at Camp Bacca shows that he is manipulative and smart, two qualities that are dangerous in a leader. The fact that he was let out of U.S. custody is mind boggling, but again, hindsight. Of course sooner or later his fate will be the same as Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi. It might not be the U.S. that kills him but it definitely won't be old age that kills him. 

Public support for gun rights is increasing. More then half support gun rights. Pew Research.

Pew Research Center. 

In a major reversal a majority of people support gun rights then gun control, according to a new report from Pew Research Center. 52% of people now say that it is more important to protect gun ownership then restricting access to firearms. Support for gun rights had been increasing in polling until the shooting in Newton almost two years ago, which caused a dip in support for gun rights. More Americans have the opinion that guns protect people instead of putting them at risk, with 57% saying guns prevent crime. Demographically the largest jump in people that believe that guns help people are African Americans. In 2012 only 29% said guns helped prevent crime, compared to 54% in 2014. African Americans still say that guns should be controlled but the number of supports of gun rights has increased from 24% in 2012 to 34% in 2014.  

My Comment:

Another poll confirming what I've long suspected. My major surprise is that the numbers aren't higher. Gun control is on life support in this country and is only a factor due to the deep pockets of people like Michael Bloomberg. In addition, the supporters of gun rights are much more dedicated to their cause then the gun control advocates. Gun control advocates have had some victories though, so even as the polls turn against them, they still have power. 

As for why the numbers are changing here are some possible reasons:

1. Widespread civil unrest after the Michael Brown shooting probably convinced many people that owning a gun is a very good idea. Perhaps not all for the same reason though. Anyone who say the riots and demonstrations had the very reasonable fear that those riots could spread to the point that they could threaten their homes and lives. People don't believe the cops could protect them from that so they decided to protect themselves. Conversely, some people may have bought guns to protect themselves from perceived (and in my view incorrect) bias from the police. 

2. The Millennial generation is fairly libertarian in general. Sure there are still huge numbers of Social Justice Warriors who hate guns, but the generation is more libertarian then previous generations. That's good news for gun rights

3. Video games. You heard me. A whole generation of kids have been turned onto guns due to shooters like Call Of Duty and so on. Sure, some of those kids are annoying but they play video games with cool guns and think "man, these are cool, I'd sure like to own one in real life!"

4. People are sick of Democrats and their platform in general. Again, Democrats would disagree, but other then their die hard supporters, people are getting sick of everything related to Obama. And gun control is related to Obama. Of course some of that is 2nd term dissatisfaction but hopefully its more then that. 

Time's person of the year are the Ebola fighters. Time

Time

Time has named their annual person of the year and for 2014 it has given the honor to the hundreds of doctors and nurses fighting against Ebola. Time. 

My Comment:

Great choice by Time. The doctors, nurses and other volunteers are truly heroes and deserve this honor. It takes incredible courage to fight such a deadly and terrifying disease and more then a few gave their lives trying to fight Ebola. It's not just the ones in Africa, but all the doctors and nurses that helped treat exported cases and stop the outbreaks in Spain and the United States. 

And it is important to note that the outbreak is anything but over. Though it seems to be subsiding in Liberia the disease is still rampant in Sierra Leone and Guiana and Mali still hasn't gotten its outbreak under control yet. The crisis is not over, even if coverage of it has waned. Although it isn't clear if the outbreak will be stopped anytime soon, if it does stop it will be because of the brave doctors and nurses fighting the disease. 

Kalashnikov Concern, producer of the famous AK-47 and other rifles, is having trouble dealing with U.S. sanctions. BBC

Kalashnikov Concern is having trouble finding buyers for its rifles. -BBC

The Russian company Kalashnikov Concern, maker of the famous AK-47 family of rifles, is having trouble finding buyers for its rifles due to U.S. sanctions. BBC. The company, which had secured a huge contract of 200,000 rifles for the United States, lost its chance to sell those rifles after President Obama imposed sanctions on it and seven other Russian companies. The sanctions are in response to the Russian governments actions in Ukraine. Losing the U.S. market was not the only problem as EU sanctions are harming efforts to modernize production at the Izhevsk plant. These problems are compounded as former Soviet Bloc nations are also producing AK weapons. Due to these concerns the firm is trying to secure a contract with the Russian government to supply the government with a new rifle, the AK-12. Still, the heads of the company are hoping that the sanctions are lifted soon. 

My Comment:

I'm hoping that Kalashnikov can survive. If for no other reason then for the great historical importance of the AK-47 family of rifles. The have been involved in dozens of major wars and have proven themselves to be one of the most ubiquitous rifles of the 20th and 21st centuries. Like the Mosin-Nagant before it, it's fought on both sides of practically every war in recent history. It's also an acceptable home defense weapon as well. In the great AR-15 vs AK-47 debate my answer was always... BOTH! Too bad I can't really afford either... 

As for the sanctions, I don't see them doing much to convince Putin to stop his adventure in Ukraine. He has some fairly serious strategic and tactical concerns in the nation and I doubt he will give it up to save Kalashnikov. If the choice is between an arms manufacturer and Russia's historical interest in keeping Ukraine in its sphere of control, Ukraine is going to win every time. He may very well choose Kalashnikov Concern's AK-12 as a new rifle for the Russian military, but that seems somewhat unlikely. From what I understand Russia still has thousands of AK-74's and doesn't really need a new rifle. 

Of course I think that gun control was a major factor in passing these sanctions in the first place. I won't say it was the only reason but at the very least the Obama administration considered the ban a great way to stop a particularly hated rifle from being sold. Even if it was a fringe benefit, from their perspective, it still is terrible. Thousands of Americans own AK rifles and thousands more want new ones but due to the sanctions they can't get them. But as long as both Obama and Putin are in office I don't see these sanctions going away. Even if U.S./Russian relations start to thaw there is almost no chance of Obama lifting these sanctions, just because he hates guns. Hopefully things will change in 2016 when he is out of office...