This alert has to be issued because idiot Western governments keep paying the ransoms. If you keep buying something, you will get more of it. The demand will be met by an increased supply: as long as non-Muslims keep paying ransoms, they will get more kidnappings. Europe actually finances al Qaeda through ransom payments. “Americans abroad at ‘high risk’ of ISIS kidnappings, terrorist attacks, U.S. warns,” by Meg Wagner, New York Daily News, October 11, 2014:
U.S. citizens are prime targets for terrorists’ kidnappings, the government warned.
The U.S. State Department urged Americans to be on high alert when they’re traveling abroad, fearing ISIS and other extremist groups have “increased attempts to finance their operations through kidnapping for ransom.”
“Terrorist groups have stepped up their rhetoric calling for additional attacks or kidnapping attempts on westerners,” the department said in a Friday statement.
The most vulnerable international travelers are those who belong to governments with a history of paying ransoms to terrorist groups, the State Department explained. Some Western countries — such as France and Germany — have paid millions to have their hostages freed.
While the U.S. has a long standing policy of refusing to submit to payoff requests, the State Department still warned that Americans aboard are at risk of terrorist’ violence.
ISIS is especially eager to attack the U.S. and its citizens for the government’s aggressive airstrike campaign against fighters in Syria and Iraq, the State Department said. © STRINGER Iraq / Reuters/REUTERS ISIS is especially eager to attack the U.S. and its citizens for the government’s aggressive airstrike campaign against fighters in Syria and Iraq, the State Department said.ISIS and other terrorists groups are especially vengeful against the U.S. and its citizens for the government’s aggressive airstrike campaign against fighters in Syria and Iraq.
It’s not clear how many Americans ISIS is holding hostage, but the fighters have executed two kidnapped journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as retaliation for the U.S. intervention in the Middle East. The group has threated to kill Peter Kassig, a U.S. soldier-turned-humanitarian aid worker, next if the government does not end its military campaign against the fighters.
Extremists are especially likely to target overseas areas where large numbers of travelers gather. Kidnappings and attacks might take place at sporting events, in hotels and other tourist destinations, the State Department said.
While terrorists groups exist across the world, the Middle East remains the most dangerous area, the government warned.
FILE Getty Images provides access to this publicly distributed image for editorial purposes and is not the copyright owner. Additional permissions may be required and are the sole responsibility of the end user. ISIS beheaded Steven Sotloff (center) earlier this year after he was kidnapped while working as a reporter in Syria.“No part of Syria should be considered immune from violence,” the statement read. “U.S. citizens in Iraq remain at high risk for kidnapping and terrorist violence.”
Federal officials are worried about U.S. travelers in Africa and Asia, too.
Boko Haram, the Nigerian extremist group that kidnapped 200 schoolgirls earlier this year, has threatened U.S. missionaries in the country’s north. Al Qaeda groups have an especially strong hold in North Africa, the department said.
Other terrorists operate in India, the Philippines and Malaysia.
The U.S. urged travelers to stay in a “heightened state of alert” and warned that its worldwide facilities may be forced to close during times of high threats.
Ralph says
“” STUPID IS STUPID””
“Shia and Sunni Islam – what are the differences?”
Answer:The main difference between Sunnis and Shias lies in their interpretation of the rightful succession of leadership after the death of the prophet Muhammad. The declaration of faith to which all Muslims assent is this: There is no God but Allah, whose prophet is Muhammad. However, the Shiites add an extra phrase at the end: and Ali is the friend of God. Because the Shiites passionately attest to Ali being the successor to Muhammad, much feuding and division have been caused in the world of Islam, not unlike the feuding between Protestants and Roman Catholics in Europe during the Reformation. However, the schism that sets up the major sects of Islam is not due to doctrinal issues, as between Protestants and Catholics, but is grounded in the identity of the “true successor” to Muhammad.
Among the close disciples of Muhammad was Ali, his son-in-law, who was most familiar with his teachings. However, when Muhammad died in A.D. 632, the followers bypassed Ali, whom the Shiites claim as the rightful successor to Muhammad. Instead, a cousin of Muhammad’s third successor, Uthman (A.D. 644-656), called Mu’awiya Umayyad, declared himself caliph. When he died in A.D. 680, his son Yazid usurped the caliphate instead of Ali’s youngest son, Hussein. The feud between rightful successors or caliphs was fought at the battle of Karbala. Hussein was slain, but his sole son, Ali, survived and continued the line of succession. Yazid, however, gave rise to the Ummayad line of succession, from which modern-day Sunnism arose.
As for their beliefs, both Sunni and Shia Muslims agree on the five pillars of Islam. While the Sunnites honor Ali, they do not venerate their imams as having the gift of divine intercession. Sunnites conduct community prayers and believe they can have a direct relationship with God. Of the two, Shiite Muslims have a burning desire to engage in martyrdom and believe that suffering is a means of spiritual cleansing. They dwell on the martyrdoms of Ali and Hussein, especially over the ten-day period of Ashura. Also noteworthy is the veneration that Shiites give to the imams, believing they are endowed with infallibility in their interpretation of the Qur’an. In many ways, this mirrors the way the pope is venerated in Rome.
In terms of actual practice, the Sunni Muslims pray five times a day: thefajr, thezohr, theasar, themaghriband finally theisha(“darkness”). Shia Muslims only pray three times—morning, lunchtime and sunset. Another important difference between the two sects is that Shia Muslims permit fixed-term temporary marriage, known asmuttah.Muttahwas originally permitted at the time of the Prophet and is now being promoted in Iran by an unlikely alliance of conservative clerics and feminists, the latter group seeking to downplay the obsession with female virginity which is prevalent in both forms of Islam, pointing out that only one of the Prophet’s thirteen wives was a virgin when he married her.
Iran is overwhelmingly Shia – 89 percent. Shia Muslims also form a majority of the population of Yemen, Azerbaijan, Bahrain and 60 percent of the population of Iraq. There are also sizeable Shia communities along the east coast of Saudi Arabia and in Lebanon. The well-known guerrilla organization Hezbollah, which forced the Israelis out of southern Lebanon in 2000, is Shia. Worldwide, Shias constitute 10 to 15 percent of the overall Muslim population, but they make up the majority of the radical, violent element of Islam.
Jay Boo says
As Hillary would say
“What difference does it make”
Muhammad was a manipulating weak-willed pervert.
Muhammad’s self-serving claim to be a prophet is a disgraceful joke.
Allah of Islam is a horrendous blasphemy of all that is sacred.
BTW, I am not a hand washing shameless Muslim.
Just in case there was any doubt.
Jay Boo says
Imams focus on what will benefit Islam first
Some find EXCUSES for not criticizing the Islamic State butchery.
They must realize that the Islamic State is Islam.
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/478329-why-some-muslims-wont-condemn-isil.html
Jay Boo says
Note: (link is reference to)
Imam Johari Abdul-Malik,
a prominent imam from Northern Virginia
Rationalizes not criticizing IS
tpellow says
“THE WAR AGAINST ISIS.
“Inside the battle for Kobane:
ISIS fanatics release propaganda film of street fighting as Kurds stage last desperate stand to stop massacre of the innocents in sight of the Turkish border.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2789063/isis-release-new-footage-bloody-street-fighting-kobane-kurds-face-desperate-battle-death-against-jihadists.html#ixzz3Fs3OBTHz
Jay Boo says
If ISIS takes Ben Affleck hostage,
he might get a taste of the real Islam in places like Kobane that the victims of ISIS have suffered under and not the Hollywood self-serving liberal PC version of Islam.
Jen says
Ben Affleck is so clueless. I’m sure he has never known anyone who has lived in areas where Muslims kidnapping non-Muslims is routine. It’s not just foreigners who are targets- it’s anyone who comes from a family who is known to have money. Everyone who lives among Muslims will tell you- this is typical Islamic behaviour. It has been going on for a long time. Long before dhimmis like himself in the West even heard of it. He should get off his high horse.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
The U.S. State Department urged Americans to be on high alert when they’re traveling abroad, fearing ISIS and other extremist groups…
Well it’s a danged shame we’re not at war with Islam, cuz it appears that they are at war with us.
Not that I’m criticizing, how do you win a war without a definition of victory for it? The only possible way to truly win over Islam is to eliminate it. That would require a redefinition of the “right to return” concept, where Infidel nations would declare a right to return Moslem to whatever hellhole they came from. It would also require making tough changes on Moslems born in free countries, and for those who convert to Islam. Would be unreasonable, for example, to unseat Rep Keith Ellison from his congressional seat and send him to the Dar al-Hellhole country of his choice? We’d pay the air fare and his first few weeks of rent as a gesture of good will, but still.
somehistory says
Is that a woman in the photo? Or a man with very narrow and sloping shoulders?
Wellington says
The burden to all the world which is Islam continues unabated.
A la Bob Dylan, if you, Islamic world, could step into my shoes, you’d then know what a drag it is to see you.
UneasyOne says
Did you see my acknowledgement of my error – that you were, in fact, first? In predicting the assertion of threats.)
Sorry, dirty glasses. Thanks for your courtesy when you replied. I posted it twice, but comments on that page kept disappearing.
Eunice Well says
Kidnapping is a felony that is and should be punishable by death. Find the kidnappers…no matter how long it takes…and execute them.
Jay Boo says
They might be returning soon to England insisting on their ‘right’ to be allowed back in.
Frans Groenendijk says
Slightly off topic.
Please sign the petition:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/officially-arm-peoples-protection-unit-ypg-syria-defend-isis-destroying-kobane-community/MqkGM32Y
Mirren10 says
”This alert has to be issued because idiot Western governments keep paying the ransoms. If you keep buying something, you will get more of it.”
The Dane-geld. If you keep on paying the Dane-geld, you never get rid of the Dane.