The recent murder of an American journalist in Iraq is not unprecedented, as a visit to the Newseum in DC will show. Journalists have paid the ultimate price for many years while exercising an American 1st Amendment right here - but mostly abroad. More troubling is the news that an American died fighting alongside his ISIS compadres. There has been criticism of President Obama's handling of the Middle East, but the die was cast years ago.

To the casual observer, ISIS - the Islamic terrorist group - is just another flavor of al-Qaeda. They are - in fact - enemies. ISIS is a Sunni group; al-Qaeda is Wahhabi. The current government of Iraq is mostly Shiite, the same as Iran. If you think of The Troubles in Ireland as Protestant battled Catholic, you'll get a better understanding of what's going in in the Middle East.

One of the big questions is where did ISIS come from, and how did they get so powerful so fast? To answer that, we need to look back to 2003.
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29 comments (Latest Comment: 08/28/2014 20:30:28 by Mondobubba)

Good Morning.

Today is our 4,706th day in Afghanistan, and our 69th day back in Iraq.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2,341
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,126

There are no new American casualties in Iraq.

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 1, 560, 114, 925, 000 .00
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37 comments (Latest Comment: 08/27/2014 00:44:23 by clintster)

Good Morning.

I had planned today as part one of a long running series about our friends in the GOP and their shirking of constitutional responsibility, but events of the last week have steered me in a different direction, as they are wont to do.

Militant "Islamists" have murdered an American citizen this week, in the name of whatever twisted vision it is that they follow. It's got me thinking....how did they get there? You all know my story, but I remain closeted at the moment; it's just not safe out there. But I don't even go to a mosque...perhaps that's where my disconnect is, since I don't really talk to anyone else who follows Mohammed at this time.
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1 comments (Latest Comment: 08/23/2014 15:58:21 by Will in Chicago)

I am left with very little to write that hasn't already been said by people much smarter than me. We have a dead young man who is being blamed for his own death.
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26 comments (Latest Comment: 08/21/2014 20:12:48 by Mondobubba)

Good Morning.

Today is our 4,699th day in Afghanistan, and our 61st day back in Iraq. (Calculating from June 19, the date used by Dr. Maddow.)

We'll start this morning as we always do, with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

No new casualties in Iraq.

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2, 340
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,125

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 1, 558, 344, 000, 000 .00
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28 comments (Latest Comment: 08/19/2014 21:07:53 by Raine)