Oct 12 Watch Why is Turkey hesitant to enter the fight against ISIS? By PBS News Hour Geoff Dyer of the Financial Times joins Hari Sreenivasan from Washington to talk about Turkey’s reluctance to fight ISIS, as the NATO partner pushes for a broader fight that includes combating Assad’s regime. Continue watching
Oct 09 Islamic State group uses only half of a Quran verse to justify beheadings — see what’s in the other half By Hari Sreenivasan The Islamic State militants use the Quran to justify their inhumane acts of violence, including beheadings, but are they just cherry-picking verses? We asked an Arab studies scholar to set the record straight about what the holy book actually says. Continue reading
Oct 05 Watch The War on ISIS: Where in the Middle East is the Islamic State making gains? By PBS News Hour Islamic State jihadists made several gains in cities throughout the Middle East over the past week and was met with powerful resistance in others. To try to make sense of what’s occurring on the battlefield in Syria and Iraq, former… Continue watching
Oct 03 Islamic State militants release video that purports to be beheading of British aid worker By Joshua Barajas Islamic State militants released a video Friday night that purportedly shows the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning, the Associated Press reports. This is amid ongoing U.S. airstrikes against the extremist group’s strongholds along the Syria-Iraq border. Continue reading
Oct 03 2 out of 3 Americans support U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, Syria By Deb Riechmann, Jennifer Agiesta, Associated Press WASHINGTON — Nearly 2 out of 3 Americans back U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria to combat the threat from Islamic extremists, yet half also think there's a high risk of a future terrorist attack on American soil, according to… Continue reading
Oct 01 Obama administration eases policy on preventing civilian casualties in Iraq, Syria By Ken Dilanian, Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama announced in May 2013 that no lethal strike against a terrorist would be authorized without "near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured." But amid unconfirmed reports of civilian casualties, the White House said… Continue reading
Sep 28 Obama: US misjudged threat of Islamic State militants By Kevin Freking, Associated Press President Barack Obama said in an interview airing Sunday that he agrees with intelligence leaders who believe the United States not only underestimated the threat of militants seeking to form the Islamic State group but also overestimated the ability and… Continue reading
Sep 27 Watch As airstrikes continue, how intense has the Syria campaign been so far? By PBS News Hour The U.S. has continued to strike the Islamic State at various headquarters in Syria, but how intense has the campaign been so far? And what's next? Anthony Cordesman from the Center for Strategic and International Studies joins Hari Sreenivasan from… Continue watching
Sep 20 ‘A desire to be recognized’: Why have Americans joined the Islamic State? By Nancy Benac, Deb Riechmann, Associated Press Their reasons for joining an extremist cause a half-world away are as varied as their geography and life stories. Continue reading
Sep 18 Senate to vote on package to arm Syrian rebels against Islamic State By Erica Werner, Associated Press WASHINGTON — Facing off in one of the most contested Senate races in the nation, Colorado Democratic Sen. Mark Udall and his Republican challenger, Rep. Cory Gardner, found something to agree on this week — giving President Barack Obama the… Continue reading