Syria has suddenly revealed on the eve of potential airstrikes in its country against ISIS that it has another chemical weapons laboratory.
The lab was built specifically to produce the deadly chemical ricin for chemical weapons.
Three sources told Reuters that the Syrian government admitted the location of three new facilities to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The revelation of the plants backs up claims from world leaders that Syria was not completely honest with OPCW and the UN regarding their chemical weapons stash and abilities.
Damascus had agreed last year to eliminate its chemical weapons program following world condemnation for an attack on Ghouta where hundreds were killed by sarin gas.
The OPCW described the incident as a “discrepancy” in the initial declaration by Syria to the organization. Syria claims that they could never let inspectors in because of fighting between rebels and government troops.
Syria had blamed sarin attacks on rebel forces and said they never had the capability to produce the rockets needed for the weapons.
“Syria will argue that the facilities were not revealed earlier because they were in a rush when they first had to report them,” said one diplomatic source. “They had said the ricin was for medical purposes, but we don’t believe that’s true.”
The OPCW is also investigating a report that Syrian government troops have dropped chlorine “barrel” bombs this year.
The Islamic extremist group ISIS has murdered another western hostage.
The group posted a video on Saturday labeled “a message to the allies of America” where they showed footage of British Prime Minister David Cameron condemning ISIS and then cut a video of British aid worker David Haines kneeling in front of a masked man.
Haines then made a statement that condemns Britain and blames Cameron for his execution although most intelligence experts say his captors were feeding that message to him.
The terrorist who killed Haines is believed to be the same British man who beheaded two American captives.
Islamic extremists kidnapped the 44-year-old Haines last year while he was providing humanitarian aid in Syria.
ISIS is threatening to kill another British hostage if airstrikes continue against their terror organization.
A Colorado teenager is facing up to five years in prison after she admitted she was attempting to reach Syria so she could help the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.
Shannon Conley, 19, had been turned into police last fall after attending Faith Bible Church in Arvada, Colorado. The attendees at the church felt something troubling concerning the young woman. Police then investigated her on several occasions.
According to reports, the young woman met a man online identified as 32-year-old ISIS terrorist Yousr Mouelhi and the two began a courtship through the video chat service Skype. She asked her father if she could marry Mouelhi and he refused so she made plans to head to Syria without her family’s knowledge.
The father called police when he discovered his daughter had a plane ticket to Turkey. She was taken into custody at Denver International Airport.
Conley had trained as a nurse’s aide and admitted to investigators she was going to work at a jihadist camp as a nurse. She also said she wanted to wage jihad against the United States.
The sentencing for Conley was scheduled for January while she undergoes psychological evaluation.
A Princeton law professor is speaking out over the large number of Americans and residents of other western nations that are ignoring the systematic “cultural cleaning” of Christians from the Middle East.
Robert George says Christians in the west need to step up and spur their governments to action.
“It must be a kind of complacency that comes with power and affluence,” George said. “We are happy. We are content. We are not persecuted, or not very much. So, we do not see the persecution of our brothers and of our sisters on the other side of town.”
“Where is the voice being raised on behalf of Middle Eastern Christians by my fellow American Christians and Christians in Europe?” George continued. “Yes, some do raise their voices and they are to be congratulated. To often this persecution goes on and we hear nothing. No voices raised by Christians.”
George, the vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, spoke at a press conference announcing a gathering of Middle East Christians.
“The narrative has too often been internalized by Christians themselves so that they fear speaking out lest they be confronted with a claim that Christians have no right to complain about persecution because their history has been one of persecuting,” George said. “As the heads are being chopped off by ISIS and other criminals, as the tortures are occuring, people are being burried alive, women are being raped. As evil beyond imagineable, genicidal evil is being done, we in the West must not worry about being accused of special pleading.”
ISIS is reportedly much larger than many world leaders had previously believed when decisions were being made to create an international coalition.
The CIA has released a new study showing that ISIS could have as many as 31,000 terrorist fighters, three times higher than previously thoughts by intelligence agencies.
“This new total reflects an increase in members because of stronger recruitment since June following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate, greater battlefield activity, and additional intelligence,” CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani told the BBC.
The announcement comes on a day that 10 Arab countries formalized their pledges to help the U.S. stop the Islamic terrorist group. Ministers from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates all pledged military support and humanitarian aid.
“The region recognizes the danger that has been unleashed and they are full-throatedly ready to deal with that and that is why they committed today to take the actions they have committed to,” Secretary of State Kerry said to reporters.
President Obama gave a confusing speech to the American people Wednesday night where he said that he would fight Islamic terrorism and that terrorists would have no place to hide…
But then he said that ISIS, the group that beheaded two Americans and has carried out mass killings of Christians across Iraq, is not Muslim and thus not an Islamic terrorist group.
“ISIL is not Islamic,” the President said. “No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim.”
The President then went on to say that even though they are not Islamic, they used to be the Iraq branch of the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
“It was formerly al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria’s civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border,” Obama said. “ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.”
The President did acknowledge the Christians who have been killed and driven from their homes by the Islamic terrorist group.
“This includes Sunni and Shia Muslims who are at grave risk, as well as tens of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities,” Obama said. “We cannot allow these communities to be driven from their ancient homelands.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will step up and be a part of the international coalition to destroy the Islamic terrorist group Islamic State.
Netanyahu addressed the statements of President Obama in an address where he also warned Iran against acquiring nuclear weapons. Netanyahu said that Islamic State is no different than terror groups like Hamas, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and al-Shabab.
“These groups must be fought. They must be rolled back and they must ultimately be defeated. That’s why Israel fully supports President Obama’s call for united actions against ISIS,” Netanyahu said.
“All civilized countries should stand together in the fight against the radical terrorism currently sweeping the Middle East, Netanyahu added. “And we are playing our part in this continued effort. Some of the things are known; some of the things are less known.”
Netanyahu said to the Muslims around the world they need to realize that Israel is an ally against Islamic extremism and that perhaps some Arab nations need to re-evaluate their relationships with Israel.
“They understand Israel is not their enemy but their ally in the fight against this common enemy. I believe that presents an opportunity for cooperation and perhaps an opportunity for peace.”
While the world is focusing on the Islamic terrorist group ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the terror unit is quietly working to help another extremist group set up their own “caliphate” in Nigeria.
The Nigeria Security Network has found connections between Boko Haram and ISIS that indicates the major terror network is helping the Nigerian outfit with military tactics, supplies and “spiritual” guidance.
“Unless swift action is taken, Nigeria could be facing a rapid takeover of a large area of its territory reminiscent of ISIS’s lightning advances in Iraq,” the NSN said.
The Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans is calling on President Obama to look beyond ISIS to the terror groups that are receiving their assistance as he builds a world coalition against terrorism.
“As the US President Barack Obama is articulating a strategy to degrade and destroy ISIS, we urge him not to forget Boko Haram as well. Every moment we leave Boko Haram alone empowers the terrorists to become even more devious and devilish,” CANA Executive Director Pastor Laolu Akande said in a statement.
Boko Haram followed in the footsteps of ISIS in declaring an Islamic Caliphate in northern Nigeria. Some local leaders are now calling Boko Haram the “Islamic State Nigeria Branch”.
The United Nations is calling out the terrorist group ISIS for the killing of hundreds of children in their campaign of terror across Iraq and Syria.
The UN’s Envoy on Children testified Monday that many children were simply executed on the spot by the terrorists.
“Up to 700 children have been killed or maimed in Iraq since the beginning of the year, including in summary executions,” Leila Zerrougui told the UN Security Council. She added that in addition to the children who have been killed by the group, they are also forcing children as young as 13 to be soldiers.
“Other children are used as suicide bombers,” Zarrougui said.
Zarrougui was not the only UN official condemning the terrorist outfit on Monday. The new head of the UN’s Commission on Human Rights called out the group while speaking in Geneva.
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said that ISIS is creating a “house of blood” in the areas under their control.
The UN has committed to making sure there are no child soldiers anywhere in the world by the end of 2016.
Federal law enforcement and intelligence officials are concerned that a group in Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, is connected to ISIS.
They believe that the jihadists are already working on a plan to attack the United States by crossing terrorists over the unsecured Mexican border.
Judicial Watch has reported that intelligence officials have recording of radio talk and chatter indication the terrorist groups aim to “carry out an attack on the border” and that it is “coming very soon.”
The unnamed source told Judicial Watch that the threat is considered so severe that the commanding general at Ft. Bliss in El Paso is being given details on security measures to protect the base from potential attack.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has sent a bulletin about the situation that was obtained by Fox News: “A review of ISIS social media messaging during the week ending Aug. 26 shows that militants are expressing an increased interest in the notion that they could clandestinely infiltrate the southwest border of the U.S., for terror attack.”