"The rising star of ISIS, the Sunni insurgent group terrorizing Iraq, is a fighter known as Omar the Chechen — a young, fierce military commander whose most distinctive feature is an unmistakable red beard.
His nom de guerre is Omar al-Shishani, and he’s only 28. Terror analysts say his growing profile demonstrates not just the reach of ISIS but its ferocity: Al-Shishani grew up in the spartan Pankisi Gorge of Georgia, hardened by decades of fighting.
...Al-Shishani has commanded ISIS forces in Syria as they work to erase the border between Syria and Iraq. Analysts say he may already be the military chief for the whole movement.
...Unlike Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the ISIS leader, Omar the Chechen is not afraid to show his face. He appeared in an ISIS video over the weekend, asking God to grant his fellow fighters martyrdom if they can’t establish an enormous Islamic state.
...Al-Shishani, whose given name is Tarkhan Batirashvili, is from the Caucasus region of Georgia, torn by strife as long as he has been alive. He served in the national army and was discharged after an illness, a former neighbor told The Associated Press.
The BBC, citing Georgian military records, reported in December that it was tuberculosis.
...The State Department estimates that 9,000 foreign fighters have joined the civil war in Syria. And the Chechens, who have fought Russia in the Caucasus for decades, are among the most feared.
Al-Shishani commands perhaps 500 to 1,000 fighters and has risen with a sustained campaign of success. His groups have avoided crippling losses, including fighting both the Maliki forces and the troops of Syrian leader Bashar Assad."
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This is unusual. I was going to post quotes from an article from Voice of America that I have bookmarked, but is no longer there:
White House: No Plans to Coordinate with Syria Against Militants
That article said we were not going to coordinate with Assad because the US does not think he is the legitimate leader of Syria. The article also said our planes are currently flying reconnaissance missions to see what bombing needs to be done. The link in my bookmarks now goes here.
15 comments:
Rising star?
Rising star?
As if it's show business PR crap?
You've got to be kidding me.
Shoot him in the beard.
Either one.
Aw, deb's crushin' bad on her bad boy muzzie. That's so sweet.
It would be sweet if somebody crushed him.
lol Sixty, you should know :)
Speaking of which, what's with the whining:
"There is also a personal element to the current offensive. The slogan of the Islamic State's latest campaign to rout the Aleppo rebels and capture their territory is called “revenge for our chaste women.” This hair-raising motto was chosen for two purposes: to put the fear of God into their opponents, and to rally their already frenzied fighters into even higher levels of brutality and blood thirst.
What this war slogan alludes to is the alleged rape and abuse of the wives and female relatives of IS militants after the fighters were expelled from Aleppo by a coalition of local and Islamist fighters under the banner of the Islamic Front in January of this year. Before that, IS militants were fighting and living side by side with other factions. Many had settled down with their families alongside local rebels in their towns, villages and neighborhoods.
Al-Monitor
Edwaaaard. How he finds time in his busy schedule to keep his beard dyed, I do not know.
I want to set his beard on fire and watch it spread to his head and bugs and critters jump off that ship of fool and run free while he crisps in agony.
He can be hung upside down while this is occurring.
-From Medieval Thoughts by Amartel
Perhaps NBC can get him a gig on the Matt Lauer show. You know- as a rising star.
Or perhaps dancing with the stars.
Dead man walking.
We should be killing guys like this on a daily basis, and the U.N. should be paying us handsomely for it in carbon credits.
Amartel the Vindicator. This guy is an attention whoring, beard dying, atrocity committing head case.
Yes April, maybe he'll show up on Lauer's show with a concealed bomb. Now that's entertainment. I know Ann Curry would be amused.
If they want their 72 raisins, we should accommodation them.
Not only will he show up on Lauer's show, he'll be part of this summer's new feature "Where In The World Is Omar the Chechen?"
That's how NBC rolls.
His doctors probably told him that a drier clime would help his consumption, and the Syrian desert air is certainly good for that. Now we see he has a full time job too. Seems to be an all-around good move for the lad.
In Injia's sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time,
A'serving of her Majesty the Queen...
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