Mid-Week Post

 

Easter is coming....


Canada's mission against ISIS is to be extended for a year:

Canadian fighter jets will soon be launching airstrikes in Syria now that the House of Commons has approved the federal government’s plan to expand and extend its military mission in Iraq.

Federal MPs voted 142-129 in favour of a motion extending the mission for up to a full year and authorizing bombing runs in Syria against targets belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The original mission deployed six CF-18 fighter jets, one CC-150 Polaris air-to-air refuelling aircraft, two CP-140 Aurora surveillance aircraft. Some 600 aircrew and other personnel are currently deployed.

Up to 69 special forces advisers will also remain in the region to advise and assist Kurdish peshmerga forces in their efforts to beat back the advance of ISIL militants.

Needless to say, neither the Liberals nor the NDP support this extension.


ISIS seizes part of a Palestinian refugee camp:

Islamic State fighters seized most of a vast camp for Palestinian refugees on the outskirts of Damascus from other insurgents on Wednesday in a bid to capture a major foothold close to President Bashar al-Assad's seat of power.

In a separate advance, rebel groups that have received backing from Assad's Arab and Western foes captured a border crossing with Jordan, the first time Damascus has lost it since the start of the conflict, sources on both sides said.

The gains by groups at opposite ends of the insurgent spectrum show the pressures still facing Assad, who has sought to shore up his control over western Syria including the border zone with Jordan and Israel - the last notable foothold of the mainstream rebels who have largely been eclipsed by jihadists.

(Sidebar: why is Assad still the issue? Has everyone been asleep since ISIS began its rampage of rape, thievery and artefact-smashing?)

Is Saudi Arabia angry enough to launch airstrikes to defend Palestinian sandbags refugees? Palestinians are good as political props but not good enough for legal residence anywhere in the Islamic world. Muslims are more likely to be victims of apathy and violence at the hands of other Muslims. ISIS is still in operation despite the "degrading" campaign against it.

Is anyone serious about wiping out ISIS?


A BC man accused of plotting a terrorist attack believed killing women and children was acceptable:

An accused British Columbia terrorist calmly dismisses the killing of women and children as "collateral damage" while he and an undercover police officer drive around Victoria scoping out possible targets to attack.

In a video recorded May 2013 and played for a jury on Wednesday, John Nuttall says the slaying of bystanders is OK as long as it is not done on purpose.

"Muslim women and children, they get killed (by Western forces) all the time in the holy lands," says Nuttall, a recent convert to Islam.

The recordings were part of a months-long undercover RCMP sting involving more than 240 police officers.

For some wider context:

“Syrian Cleric Sheik Muhammad Badi’ Moussa: We Ruled It Is Permissible to Kill ‘Alawite Women and Children, but Advised the Free Syrian Army to Warn ‘Alawites before Raiding Their Villages,” ...

Because that would be the considerate thing to do.


I find it it adorable that someone thinks he can derail Iran's nuclear ambitions:

With stubborn disputes unresolved, nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers went past a self-imposed deadline and into overtime as negotiators renewed efforts to hammer out the outline of an agreement.

Don't forget Passover.


And now, a mother dog saves her pups from fire by burying them:

A mother dog saved her nine puppies from burning alive in a forest fire in Chile by digging a deep hole and placing her babies inside where they were later found untouched by the flames, according to rescuers.

Necessity is the mother of invention, I suppose.


Maybe something to make for Easter.