Russia simmers over loss of jet
The shoot down of a Russian jet yesterday continues to swirl about the region. Turkish engineering contracts inside Russia are imperiled. The Jerusalem Post reports that US intelligence believes the Russian fighter was indeed in Syrian airspace when to was struck by an air-to-air missile.
Russia is beefing up its air-defense systems in Syria. Turkish pilots flying near the Syrian border should beware
Iraq’s Shia miltias recruit Shia Kurds
We think of the Kurds as a Sunni people. For the most that’s true, but there are tens of thousands of Shia Kurds. The Iran-backed Shia militias are recruiting them to fight the Sunni Kurds. Indeed, there have already been clashes. Sunni Kurds want independence: Shia Kurds, at ;east many of them, prefer alignment with the Shia government in Baghdad. It’s complicated over there.
ISIL recruitment based on personal contacts
“Three-quarters of those who become foreign fighters for the Islamic State extremist group are recruited through friends and 20 percent through family members, a terrorism expert said Tuesday.”
This study indicates that personal contacts are central to ISIL recruitment. Behind these contacts, however, are mosques and countries such as Saudi Arabia that broadcast the call to militant Islam.