The Obama-labeled ISIS "jay-vee" Team Is Gearing Up for Prime-time Matches

A couple years ago, President Obama called them a "jay-vee" basketball team...definitely nothing to worry about. Today, ISIS-subjugated territories and footholds stretch from Afghanistan in the east to Algeria in western North Africa. They have killed an estimated 10,000 people and declared a caliphate based on the non-modernized brutal teachings of the Prophet Mohammed. They occupy one-third of Iraq and large parts of northern Syria. They behead and burn-alive captives. They kidnap journalists and aid workers and often ransom them for large sums -- estimated to be a total of more than $200 million so far. And they call on other jihadist terrorist groups to swear allegiance to ISIS leader al-Baghdadi, the caliph. Not bad for a junior varsity team. ~~~~~ The latest group considering pledging itself to ISIS is Boko Haram. The Nigerian terrorists became a focus of international news when they kidnapped 300 Nigerian schoolgirls last year and then said that the Christian girls had converted to Islam and were married off to jihadist "warriors." And now we learn that some more recently kidnapped schoolgirls may be being used by Boko Haram as suicide bombers - some saying that the explosive charges are probably remote-controlled and the girls, as young as 10, are sent into Nigerian markets and sacrificed. Already having forced the postponement of scheduled February Nigerian presidential elections, Boko Haram, which denounces democracy as a corrupt Western concept, has warned it will disrupt any future Nigerian elections by attacking polling stations. AND, Boko Haram has indicated it may soon join up with ISIS, according to a message reportedly posted Sunday on Twitter. Boko Haram began imitating ISIS last August, declaring it had established an Islamic caliphate in territory it controls in northeastern Nigeria. The Boko Haram Twitter message to ISIS said : "We give you glad tidings that the group's Shurah Council is at the stage of consulting and studying, and we will let you know soon the group's decision in respect to pledging allegiance to the caliph of the Muslims, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," referring to the ISIS leader. ~~~~~ Meanwhile, London police are investigating the disappearance of three British schoolgirls, whom they believe are no longer in Turkey and have crossed into Syria - likely joining dozens of other young women leaving Europe to join ISIS terrorists. Most of them have travelled to Syria to fight with the extremists, often via Turkey. The three British teenagers are among the 50 girls that British experts estimate have left the UK for Syria. Authorities say the three boarded a plane to Istanbul and have not been heard from since. The phenomenon of European and American young people, often teenagers, heading to Syria to join ISIS is not well-understood and attempts to halt the flow are mostly focused on stopping them at airports before they begin their journey. Analysts say that ISIS uses social media to recruit them, promising adventure and a "meaning" for their lives. ~~~~~ And today in northeastern Syria, ISIS abducted at least 70 Christians - many of them women and children - while thousands of others fled to safer areas. Relatives said mobile phone service was cut off and land lines were not working, raising fears for their loved ones. Heavy fighting was reported in the area where the kidnappings took place. Recently, videos released by ISIS militants in Libya showed the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians -- Egyptian airstrikes responded to the killing of the Egyptian nationals, even though they were Christian. ISIS has terrorized religious minorities since it took control of northern Syria, where the minorities are predominately Assyrian Christians. Nuri Kino, the head of a group called A Demand For Action, said between 70 and 100 Assyrians were taken captive. About 3,000 people fled and have sought refuge in the cities of Hassakeh and Qamishli. He said his activist group based its information on conversations with villagers who fled the attack and their relatives. His group focuses on religious minorities in the Middle East. An Assyrian Christian woman who lives in Beirut told the media she has been trying to find out what has become of her parents, her brother and his wife and their children, but she couldn't reach anyone in the village. Last year, ISIS militants abducted more than 150 Kurdish boys and held them in a school in Aleppo province where they subjected them to daily instruction on militant ideology for five months before releasing them in batches. The group has also released Turkish truck drivers and diplomats after holding them for months. It is not known if there was a prisoner swap in these cases. Hassakeh province, the site of today's kidnappings, is strategically important because it borders Turkey and areas controlled by ISIS in Iraq. Kurdish militiamen from the People's Protection Units, or YPG, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes, have made advances in the province in a new offensive launched this week, and the Christian captives could have been taken as a bargaining chip by ISIS. Analysts say that the militants have moved the captives to the village of Umm al-Masamir on Mount Abdulaziz, some 25 kilometers south of Tal Shamiram. That raised fears, the network said, that ISIS could use them as human shields against Kurdish militiamen. ~~~~~ Dear readers, a recent UN report states that human rights violations by ISIS jihadists during their campaign in Iraq has led to over 24,000 Iraqi civilians being injured or killed by ISIS in the first eight months of 2014. ISIS extremists have also taken up the practices of recruiting 12- and 13-year-old soldiers and forcing women and girls into sex slavery. ISIS also forces Christian women to wear the Moslem burka and beats or kills them if they refuse. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in conjunction with the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq released  the report last Thursday, summarizing its investigation of ISIS violations of human rights gathered by conducting interviews with over 500 internally displaced witnesses. The witnesses told the UN investigators of ISIS atrocities - killing, kidnapping and persecuting citizens of all religious beliefs including those holding ISIS' own faith of Sunni Islam. Boys as young as 12, wearing ISIS garb and carrying weapons, have been trained to patrol and arrest non-compliant villagers in controlled areas. And, ISIS has moved close to Europe -- one wonders how many refugees landing in boats in southern Italy are disguised ISIS terrorists -- one wonders how many Moslem university students in Europe are ISIS sympathizers -- one wonders if most European countries have any effective surveillance for returning jihadists. And, surely, one wonders how President Obama is dealing with the ISIS expansion and whether he is doing anything to protect America before ISIS operatives are inextricably imbedded in American cities and towns. If, for security reasons, he can't tell America what his administration personnel are doing, he can tell Congress intelligence and oversight committees. But, my guess is that if he were giving Congress good information, we would not hear the deepening criticism coming from both Republicans and Democrats about the need for the President to be more aggressive about ISIS. Clearly, his "jay-vee" description is now sadly outdated. And we have nothing new to replace it, except Obama's platitudes about not being at war with Islam.